Devil May Cry 4: The Devil's Arm
by Gramm485
Summary: Dante attacks a peaceful community. Is there a reason for his actions, or has the son of Sparda betrayed humanity? What will a young knight, Nero, discover about the truth revealed in Dante's wake? A novelization of Devil May Cry 4.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"The Order of the Sword, huh?"

Dante took an ample bite from the fresh slice of pizza he held in his gloved hand, then chewed vigorously.

Lady slowly nodded her head. "Yes. Are you familiar with them?"

Dante gave a brief chuckle. "Sorry. Religion and I don't mix," he said through a mouthful.

_Why did I even bother asking?_

She rolled her eyes in annoyance behind the reflective orange shades she wore, the sleek frames hiding her heterochromia. Lady had two different colored eyes; her right was a light blue, with just a hint of hazel, her left a deep and menacing brown that almost glowed with red if the light was just right. Shades were now almost a standard piece of her attire, keeping the stares to a minimum. Unfortunately, Lady was having another problem with stares.

She noticed that Dante wasn't looking at her face when he responded to her. Rather, he was enjoying the view of the plunging neckline of her white pinstriped blazer. The form fitting garment, complete with a set of matching hot pants gave her an air of business and pleasure. And as Dante's luck would have it, she didn't believe in bras, and just happened to absently be leaning forward on his desk.

_Whatever keeps him interested. Guess I'll have to spell it out for him_.

"It's a small congregation that gathers in the castle town of Fortuna," she said, then gave an airy scoff. "I guess the only people who would have heard of it are the type of people who take interest in this type of thing.

Dante laughed and swallowed his mouthful of pizza. "Like you."

Lady cocked her head, her gelled black bangs shifting to the side.

"Exactly."

Dante took another bite from the piece of pizza in his hand, apparently bored with the current conversation. He opted to stay how he was: his feet propped up on his desk, slouching in an antique Gothic chair. Lady rolled her eyes again. The half-demon was being more annoying than usual. Maybe she was just impatient because she was stopping on her way to a job, maybe he just pissed her off in general.

Dante's shop, _Devil May Cry,_ was Lady's only real competition when it came to her profession: demon slaying. Apparently, as said by Dante, something Lady had said when they first met was his inspiration for the name of it. Lady couldn't remember, nor did she really care.

The shop resembled more of a dingy tavern than a place of business. There was a beaten drum kit and a pool table in the corner. The other side held a well used red leather couch, as well as a beaten jukebox and a filthy refrigerator. A solitary fan slowly circled overhead, doing nothing in fixing the room's temperature. The most noticeable feature was Dante's desk and the items behind it: a large arsenal of firearms, as well as several evil looking Devil Arms. Most prominent among these was the Sparda, a massive demonic sword displayed proudly on a column.

Despite her and Dante's competition, they worked together on rare occasions. She hoped that this would be one of them. She just happened to be in a bind. The only problem was getting Dante motivated.

"So just how much do you know about Sparda?" she ventured to ask, not knowing what type of answer to expect. She at first figured Dante would know quite a bit about his own father.

"Well, from what I can figure there's a lot of, uh, confusion, surrounding him."

He shot a look to the third figure in the room, the one sitting casually at the end of his long desk: Trish. The tall blond woman...(or was it demon?) merely shrugged. She sat, legs crossed, in black leather, one leg mindlessly keeping beat with the jukebox spilling out death metal. Her head was tipped up and back almost proudly, the silken tresses of her hair spilling down the back of her ebony bustier. Like Dante, she was enjoying a slice of pizza.

Lady kept a close eye on Trish. She didn't have the exact details of how she and Dante met. She didn't even know if she was a true demon, or a cross like Dante was. Trish rarely spoke, and in fact hadn't even said a word since Lady arrived. Lady wasn't quite ready to trust her just yet.

_He probably just keeps her around for the scenery. Heh, and they call me nicely stacked._

A long strand of cheese pulled from the slice, connected to the corner of Trish's mouth. She noticed Lady staring and raised an eyebrow in question. Lady gave her a wry look before turning back to Dante.

_Once again, why do I even bother asking_?

Lady straightened herself, then turned and paced down the length of the room. About a dozen belts and holsters strapped around her creaked lightly as she moved. Lady preferred guns and artillery over other methods of extermination. Three handguns, two small submachine guns, the ammo for them and various grenades were all concealed on her small frame. Her weapon of choice, Kalina Ann, a large custom made rocket launcher with a wicked bayonet sat propped against the wall.

In Lady's opinion, anything could usually be fixed by shooting it. If that failed, then blowing it up would work just fine.

"The story goes that Sparda served as the feudal lord of the city long ago," she began, feeling stupid on having to lecture Dante about his own father. "The people who live there today take these legends as truth and worship him. Just like a god..."

This seemed to perk Dante's interest. He kicked his legs from off his desk and leaned forward, the slice of pizza still in his hand.

"They worship a demon as a god?" he asked, with a glint in his eye.

He looked over to Trish, who still seemed indifferent to the whole conversation. She daintily sucked the grease from each of her fingers, then hopped off the desk, striding off. The warped wooden floor protested loudly as her black heeled boots beat down on them.

"Peaceful worship can't be condemned," Lady said quickly, making sure Dante had not gotten the wrong impression. She walked back to his desk, once again leaning forward out of habit. "But the real problem is the Order. Lately, they've been running amok, catching demons, _and_ have been even butting in on some of _my_ jobs!"

Dante grinned, and Lady sighed again. She knew that he would like nothing more than to see her squirm. Now, he was probably going to milk this for all that he could. But, like it or not, she was against a wall. The Order needed to back off, or else she would be out of work.

"Maybe they're starting a zoo," Dante said casually.

With a quick swipe, Lady snatched the half eaten pizza from Dante's hand.

"Not just demons," she revealed, leaning close. "They've also been targeting Devil Arms. Like the ones _you_ have," she finished, gesturing at him with the slice. At least that should interest him.

"Okay, a museum then." Dante made an attempt to snatch the slice back, but Lady was too quick, pulling it out of his reach. Dante gave a look of exasperation, then decided to abandon his slice Lady had taken hostage. "So what?" He slouched back again and propped his legs up, apparently pissed that he couldn't finish eating in peace.

Lady decided to move in for the kill. "Well what if their intentions are foul and there's a diabolical plan behind these apparently 'random' acts?"

Yeah, it was a stretch, but Lady was being pushed, and she was going to push back. The Order needed to stop screwing with her business. Getting Dante to rattle a few cages would be at least a good start. Plus, it wasn't like she was making this up. She had heard more than a few rumors about the Order of the Sword...none of them were that appealing.

Impatiently, she folded her arms across her chest, being careful not to stain her white blazer with red sauce or yellow grease from the slice of pizza in her hand. Finally, Dante seemed interested.

"Well then," he said getting up, "I'd have something to keep me occupied and...Trish!" he barked over his shoulder. When there was no answer, a look of peculiarity briefly crossed his face. He looked over his shoulder, a look of disbelief now replacing the confusion.

Lady smiled triumphantly. Behind Dante, the column displaying the Sparda was now bare. Only the pegs that held it remained, along with a smear of pink lettering of what looked like lipstick on the stone:

"_See you there_"

Lady hadn't even noticed it, and her back had only been turned for a grand total of about five seconds. Trish had vanished, taking the powerful Devil Arm with her, doing it without even a sound; Lady remembered the noise she had made when she walked off. Not even a whisper. It was just another reason why she didn't trust her.

"Hmmmm..." Dante said aloud, his tongue in his cheek.

"Let me know how it goes," Lady said smugly, tossing the piece of pizza back onto it's box. She paused at the door to collect Kalina Ann on her way to her motorcycle. "Don't worry," she added, "I don't expect you to do this for free. There'll be a little something in it for you."

It was Dante's problem now, not hers.

* * *

In the semi pitch black of the cathedral's stage, Kyrie wrung her hands together tightly, almost painfully. A shuddering breath escaped from between her lips. No matter how many times she performed, it was impossible to shake the butterflies from her stomach. Maybe it was because by being a quiet, shy girl, she hated being the center as attention. As a thin halo of light formed around her, growing larger and brighter, that fear became even more apparent. The orchestra began to play the first notes.

The spotlight on her grew brighter, expanding to about two or three meters in diameter. Kyrie opened her eyes slowly, trying not to squint or blink rapidly. The scenery beyond the veil of light was just as black as it had been before the light.

_Just pretend there's no one there...no one there...But who am I singing for then? Ohhh...Is there anyway to get rid of this feeling?_

Kyrie could just make out the shapes of dozens of worshipers on the other side of the light. She couldn't see their faces, as they were obscured by their worship hoods. Only their silhouettes were visible. The rest of the cathedral's magnificent Gothic architecture was shrouded by the shadows.

The light reached it's fullest intensity, turning Kyrie into a beacon that almost glowed white. She was dressed in her worship finery: a simple white dress with long sleeves, comfortable and sensible to wear. The emblem of the Order was embroidered in a glittering gold fabric on each sleeve. Around her arms, pooling almost to the stone floor of the stage was a black lace shawl. On her head was a shining gold tiara, something that Kyrie thought was ridiculously gaudy, given the situation, as well as a bit heavy. Her auburn ponytail had been carefully threaded through the cold metal only minutes before. Topping the entire outfit was a pair of equally gaudy earrings to match her tiara.

The music softened, then crescendoed. Kyrie recognized her cue. She breathed deeply, once to relax herself. Slowly, she loosened her hands' death grip on each other, then pushed her shoulders back and lifted her head. Her eyes closed briefly, then opened, and her lips turned up into a warm smile. She breathed deeply again, this time for the first verse.

"_Listen to my voice calling you_

_Calling you out of darkness_

_Hear the devils cry of sin_

_Always turn your back on him_"

As she sang the heavenly melody, her arms slowly drifted in front of her. "Sing the words and weave the music," her voice teacher had always said. Her voice trilled perfectly as the verse ended, her entire life of practice showing in each note.

Unseen in the shadows, the orchestra's music swelled. The next verse was already upon her. This time, more voices would join her as the chorus backed her singing.

"_With the wind you go and still_

_I dream of your spirit leading me back home_

_I will give my gifts you you_

_While you're gone and watching you_"

By now, Kyrie's eyes had adjusted to the harsh light that was illuminating her. She carefully turned her head to the side, locating the spot where he said he would be. She gasped ever so slightly, her bright, celestial features turning to surprise and worry. He wasn't sitting there.

_Nero, where are you?_

She knew he didn't like going to the worship services, but he had promised! Every time she sung, he would be there watching her. But not this time. The end of the pew was empty.

Kyrie quickly hid her surprise before it could be noticed by the congregation. She was so busy thinking that she almost missed her next entry. With just her voice harmonizing with the orchestra's harp this time, it would have been an easily noticeable mistake. Her teacher would never have forgiven her for something like that.

"_The light in your eyes_

_An angel of dark_

_Lighting to ease the shadows' sight_

_Hearts will grow, the heavens will play_

_Leaving the things behind in the end_"

The last word 'end' had to be held for a full measure and a half. Kyrie's voice didn't falter once. Gone was the surprised girl, the talented songstress in her place, almost painting the music with her hands and voice. She pushed Nero out of her mind. She had to perform well, or else her family's reputation would be spoiled.

The song was almost finished; the first verse repeated and went to its coda. The last note was the hardest for Kyrie, for any singer really. Mastering such a prolonged high note took months of practice.

"_Listen to my voice calling you_

_Calling you out of darkness_

_Hear the devil's cry of sin_

_Always turn your back on him_

_On him..._"

_Please accept this song as my prayer, Lord Sparda. Help Nero keep his promise._

Kyrie raised her arms up gently, the long black shawl creating a grim arc behind her. She felt the muscles in her throat follow familiar patterns; her lips parted, and let out an ethereal sound of beauty that didn't waver or bend.

"_On him..._"

Just before the note finished, Kyrie gave one last glance to Nero's spot. Her smile became genuine. There he was, sprawled out on the pew in a manner unfit for worship. Not even dressed for the occasion, one dirty boot was propped up on seat, staining the green cushion with speckles of brown. He was breathing heavily with a light sheen of sweat across his forehead. But he was there, and that was all that mattered. He could explain himself later.

He grinned sheepishly at Kyrie as the congregation applauded politely. She beamed back, for the first time feeling happy to be on the cathedral stage.

* * *

**Authors Note: Well, I've decided to branch off into another genre. I'll still stick with Resident Evil, but I'm mainly doing this as a personal project. I love action, and Devil May Cry has an ample amount. So, I thought, why not? I'm going to try to be a little more free with the story and dialogue, because there isn't a whole lot in the game, and it doesn't make alot of sense sometimes. But, as usual, I'll try and stick to it word for word. For those of you who know the games well, I hope you enjoy. For those who don't, I hope I intrigue you. Enough talk, though. "Let's rock, baby!"**


	2. Birds of a Feather

**Chapter 1: Birds of a Feather**

The cathedral's lights slowly turned back on. The vast worship hall came into vision. It was circular, built from solid stone. Pews formed a semi-circle around the center raised stage. At the far side of the circle stood a massive statue of Sparda, his hands resting on the hilt of a giant sword stuck into the ground. The statue nearly graced the ceiling, had it not curved into a magnificent stained glass dome. Candelabras hung from the perimeter of the dome, lit with candles to set the mood of worship.

Nero ran the back of his hand across his forehead, clearing the remainder of sweat from his brow. Where the hell those demons had come from was anyone's guess. If it weren't for them, he wouldn't have been late, at least as late as he was. True, it was his fault he fell asleep on his couch, but it wasn't his fault that he ran into a pack of demons on the way to the cathedral.

As a Holy Knight, it was his duty to protect the civilians of Fortuna and exterminate demons. Had he ran, the demons would have simply attacked someone else, or worse, followed him to the cathedral. Besides, it wasn't like Nero to tuck tail and run in the face of a little danger. Even with his right arm bandaged and in a sling, the group of blade wielding scarecrow-like demons fell easily.

The incident several weeks ago was the reason why Nero's arm was incapacitated. There was a demon attack on the edge of Mitis Forest, just on the outskirts of the town. Nero was lucky enough to be there when it happened, but unfortunately, he was with Kyrie. The human casualties were low, but Nero had been inches from loosing Kyrie. The demon that almost took her life instead took Nero's arm at the shoulder.

He still wasn't clear on what happened. He just woke up in the forest after blacking out from blood loss. Quickly, he bandaged his "arm" to keep it hidden from the others. He told countless excuses about what happened. Anything to hide the truth.

At any rate, he had more pressing problems. His secret was safe so far, and he could keep it that way. Now he had to deal with Kyrie.

_I wonder if she'll buy it. She didn't seemed pissed that I missed most of her singing, but then again, I don't think she'd throw a tantrum while a hundred people were staring at her._

The applause for Kyrie began to cease, and she walked off the stage and out of sight. Old man Sanctus, the leader of the Order of the Sword, took his place in the pulpit raised behind the stage at the feet of Sparda. He began his sermon, leading the congregation in worship. Today was the Festival of the Blade, which meant that the sermon was going to be even longer than usual.

"Two thousand years ago," he began in a wheezy old voice, "the Dark Knight, Sparda, turned against his demon brethren and took up his sword for the sake of mankind. Though despite his brave efforts, I fear that some have forgotten the truth of that great sacrifice. If the events of that terrible time were to reoccur, the fusing of the demonic and human worlds, we weak humans would have no means by which to oppose our submission."

Nero was glad that he left his music player on full volume. The screaming heavy metal from the headphones around his neck were just enough to keep him interested and awake. Listening to the old man bored the hell out of him. In fact, Nero thought that the whole concept of their "religion" was dick.

The people worshiped a demon, plain and simple. It didn't matter what it did for humanity, it was still a demon, no different from the countless ones he'd slain in his life. What made the oh-so-great Dark Knight Sparda so special? The Order was committed to exterminating demon's from the face of the earth. It was the most hypocritical thing he had ever heard of.

Nero scoffed and crossed his legs, then uncrossed and crossed them again irritably. His aimless shifting and audible music caught the attention of two men. The first was the man sitting next to Nero. The other was standing two rows down and one across: Credo, Nero's foster brother. Credo and Kyrie were actually siblings, which made her his foster sister.

Credo was dressed more appropriately for worship. As captain of the Holy Knights, he wore their dress uniform, a white suit that resembled a templar's regalia, trimmed in red and gold with a high collar. A small band of the Holy Knights, probably the old man's bodyguards, stood with him, dressed similarly and holding themselves proudly.

Technically, Nero should have been standing with them, since he was a Holy Knight. But that would mean he'd have to slip into that hot, uncomfortable regalia and be quiet for about an hour straight, not to mention stay standing. Nero preferred to hover around the edge of the cathedral, favoring his long navy blue coat, red hoodie, and denim pants.

Credo turned slightly, giving Nero a sour look that screamed "shut the hell up". He didn't exactly have a kind face; in fact, his pointed goatee and trim shoulder length hair made him look downright mean. Nero had seen it enough in the past to not be intimidated by it.

He rolled his eyes back at Credo, then turned and gave the staring man next to him a poisonous stare. The man quickly turned his attention back to the sermon.

A set of soft footsteps sounded on the stone floor. Kyrie had returned from the depths of the cathedral to sit in on the sermon. She had removed the glittering tiara, earrings, and shawl that she had been donning on stage. Nero was thankful; she was a girl who looked best when she was plain.

As soon as she joined him, Nero saw her about to ask the question: "Where were you?" He didn't give her a chance. He stuck one headphone into his ear and looked away, not before seeing her nose furrow in annoyance. In his other ear, Nero heard her let out an air of surprise as she spotted his trump card: a small gift box sitting next to him in the pew.

_She didn't think that I'd remember her birthday. I'm a day early, but so what? I'll be on duty tomorrow. Ha, no way I'm sitting through that lecture again._

The old man was still gasping out his sermon. "And so I ask you to unite and pray that even if a dark time of chaos were to revisit us, our gracious Savior would shelter us from the storm!"

Kyrie picked up the small box and clasped it to her chest, then sat down next to Nero. Her head was bowed, probably thanking Sparda for whatever.

The old man clasped his hands together in front of him. "Let us pray!"

All around the cathedral, heads and hands followed suite. A gentle organ played softly to help with the worshipers' meditation.

Nero stuck the other headphone over his ear. It pissed him off, seeing people pray to a demon. He looked around, noticing that he was the only one not bowing his head. Credo, the Knights, the man next to him, and especially Kyrie were all deep in a state of mind. Nero couldn't take it anymore.

With a sigh of exasperation, he stood up, pulled his headphones off, and began to slide past the man next to him.

"Nero, what's wrong?" Kyrie whispered, almost pleadingly. This wasn't the first time he left in the middle of a service.

"I'm outta here," he whispered back.

"But it's not over yet," she protested.

"I know, but all this preaching stuff's putting me to sleep," he said, then began to walk down the aisle. That was only half the truth. He could stand going to church, but he wasn't going to sit and worship a demon. Not until hell froze over. Froze solid. He could here Kyrie behind him, no doubt getting ready to attempt to make him stay.

A twitch suddenly ran through his arm, his _right_ arm, the one in the sling. It was almost pleasurable, like a tickle. A soft, blue light pulsed dimly through the bandages.

"Huh?" he said stupidly, then froze. He couldn't explain the feeling, but it was strong, too strong to be ignored. Something was drawing his attention to-

-_the skylight!_

Nero turned and looked up. The ornate stained glass skylight was filtering multicolored rays of sunlight of the late afternoon. A shadow danced across it briefly, then there was a crash as some _thing_ fell through it. It billowed a dark red, like wings drenched in blood. It and the shower of glass fell to the stage, with the thing landing directly on the pulpit, inches from the old man.

Nero briefly recognized the shape of a crouched man, wearing a long red coat. There was something silver strung across his back. A sword?

Old man Sanctus gave a brief look of surprise at the man perched like a hawk on the pulpit so close to him. There was a blur of movement, and a deafening, terrifying sound that echoed suddenly throughout the cathedral.

A gunshot.

In a spray of blood, the old man fell over with the back of his skull blown out. The rest of the congregation suddenly became aware of the situation, startled by the shot. They looked where the source of the sound had come from, seeing the man slowly stand up. The red coat he wore straightened until it hung freely, stopping just at his ankles. There was indeed a sword slung across his back. It was about a meter and a half long, with a grim skull etched into the hilt and a barbed point.

The congregation began to murmur in shock and panic as the man turned to face them. A silver automatic handgun was clutched in his right hand, still smoking. His face was splattered in the blood of the old man. As he watched the congregation swell, his lips curled into a smile.

Panic broke out. People began screaming and running. Kyrie latched onto Nero's arm, trembling. Credo sputtered in shock, his face twisted in fury and horror.

"Your Holiness!" he screamed vainly as he drew his rapier.

Like a wave, the other knights drew their rapiers, the cascading tone of steel on steel breaking over the screams of the church goers. The knights charged the man on the pulpit, who seemed to be reveling in the chaos. They took strategic positions around him, boxing him in.

With a single hand, the assassin in red pulled the sword from his back and leaped into the center of them. He kicked in midair, sending one knight sprawling. With a swipe of his sword, he batted another away as if he were nothing more than rag doll. One knight drew in behind him, bringing his blade down towards the assassin's neck. Calmly, without even looking, the assassin raised his sword, blocking the strike. He kicked behind him, burying a boot deep into the knight's midsection.

The first knight he booted sat up, trying to get back to his feet. Cruelly, the assassin stepped on his chest, then buried the barbed point of his sword through his gut.

Nero felt Kyrie cling tighter to him as the blood sprayed, and he snapped out of his funk. He gripped her hand, then pulled her in the direction of the fleeing crowd. For some reason, she began to resist. He turned and saw why: she had dropped his gift. It was now laying trampled on the ground. He pulled her back, trying to drag her to the exit.

_I have to get her to safety first. Then, I can go back and help Credo and the others._

Meanwhile, the assassin was effortlessly dispatching the remaining knights. His sword thrust through a hapless knight, impaling him completely on the grim blade. The assassin swung his sword again, using the man stuck on the end of his sword as a bludgeon. After beating two knights down, he swept the macabre mace, knocking more of the knights into the walls and even the ceiling of the cathedral.

The last two knights fell after two quick slashes. All that was left was Credo, cradling the old man's motionless body. The assassin slowly swaggered up behind him, his bloody sword resting casually on his shoulder.

"Credo!" screamed Kyrie as she saw the man in red advance on him. She broke free of Nero, running panicked in the direction of her brother.

"Kyrie, don't!" Nero yelled after her, running to catch up.

One of the knights got to his feet behind the assassin, apparently from playing dead. The man in red turned and swung his blade as the knight struck, cleaving the rapier in two. The force knocked the knight back and into Kyrie at a glance.

Nero saw Kyrie fall hard to the ground. She let out a choked gasp of pain. The assassin in red approached her, a cold look over his face. When she realized that he was upon her, she almost seemed to freeze, if it wasn't for the tiny trembles running through her body.

With a scream of fury, Nero ran and launched himself at the assassin. He drew his legs up and extended them. The bottoms of both of his boots connected squarely with the assassin's face. Nero twisted his body as he sailed through the air, pulling out of his dropkick and landing on the ground. In one fluid motion, his left hand dipped deep into his coat and pulled free Blue Rose. He fired at the assassin, who was soaring back and up towards the statue of Sparda.

The dual-barreled revolver erupted even louder than the first shot did. Two high caliber rounds soared through the air. In a blinding arc, the man's blade came down and deflected both rounds. Before he could bring the blade back around, Nero jumped up to meet him.

He kicked, the heel of his boot landing on the hilt of the sword, burying it deep into the stone forehead of Sparda. Both men whirled around, landing on the arms of the statue.

Two guns materialized in the assassin's hands. One was the silver automatic in his right hand from before, the other was a deep obsidian black in his left. Nero still had Blue Rose trained on his breast.

Neither man moved. A standoff.

"Nero!" Kyrie called wildly from below.

Nero didn't dare to take his eyes off the man in red.

"Kyrie," he said quickly. "Go with your brother and get outta here!"

_C'mon Credo. For once, don't argue. Just get her out of here._

Credo seemed to be thinking correctly for once. "I will return with help," came his voice. "You stall him until then!"

Nero took his eyes off the assassin long enough to see him escort his sister away, followed by several other knights, carrying the corpse of the old man.

Nero scoffed lightly, "I won't hold my breath," he muttered.

Up close, he got his first good look at the man. It was startling to Nero when he saw how similar they looked. Most prominent was their hair. Both were a bright, bleached white, kept to about eye level. The only difference was that Nero bothered to run a comb through his every once in a while, as well as a razor across his face. The man in red looked fresh off the street.

Nero could still hear the faint sound of his music playing from the headphones still dangling from his neck. He jerked his head, and the device fell from his neck, breaking onto the stone floor below.

Nero fired, Blue Rose discharging two more thorns at the assassin, who ducked to dodge them. Nero fired again, but the assassin jumped. The rounds from Nero's gun tore out a large chunk of rock from Sparda's bicep.

In midair, the assassin trained his black and white guns on Nero, but was surprised to find that the younger man had already jumped to follow him. Nero coiled his legs around the assassin, who promptly stuck a gun in his face and fired.

The blast singed Nero's face, but the bullet missed. The assassin fired with the other gun, but Nero cocked his head as the weapon came near. In a bizarre move, he clamped down onto the slide with his teeth, restricting it's moves. The two men became a tangled mass of limbs as each tried to shoot each other from inches away.

Nero shoved the assassin away, back towards the face of Sparda. Landing on one of the candelabras, Nero launched himself again, trying to stay on the offensive. He aimed to bring his boot down on the assassin, but missed, striking instead the sword still buried in the statue.

Like a spinning propeller, the assassin's sword was pried free, taking the upper half of Sparda's face with it. The assassin caught it, then swung it down, aiming for Nero's head, but was stopped by the muzzle of Blue Rose.

The force of the blow knocked Nero down, in between Sparda's clasped arms and in between his chest and blade. Nero fired, Blue Rose's last two thorns striking the lower half of Sparda's face. The assassin dodged the rock shrapnel, landing on the hilt of the massive stone sword.

With all his strength, Nero braced himself and pushed against the sword with his legs, screaming with effort. The statue's hands broke away. The sword began to fall, and yet the assassin stayed perched on the hilt, riding it down towards the ground.

Nero grabbed a speed loader from his coat and reloaded Blue Rose, all the while running up the length of the stone sword as it fell. He met the assassin on the hilt, leveled his gun and fired, then swung it like a bludgeon after the shot missed.

The two men shoved off of each other as the sword leveled out and hit the ground, bouncing off the stage in the center of the cathedral. Nero landed on his feet, as did the assassin. The assassin made no move to attack; he just stood with his sword on his shoulder, a look of indifference splayed across his features.

"You got a jacked-up notion of fair play, pal," Nero said, panting lightly, "and it's beginning to piss me off."

Nero fired, but the assassin was too quick. He slung the sword over his back and pulled the black and white guns from his coat. Before Nero could line up a follow up shot, the assassin spun and twirled his automatics over his head then fired.

_No way is anyone that fast! The prick's even got time to show off!_

Nero dove out of the way of the stream of bullets behind some pews, which turned into shredded scraps as the rounds tore through them. After the hail of death stopped, Nero popped back up and fired. At the same time, so did the assassin. Nero couldn't hide his disbelief at the metallic 'twang' and sparks in between them. The assassin had shot both thorns out of the air.

Two clips dropped from the assassin's guns. He was going for a reload. Nero saw his chance, then fired the remainder of Blue Rose's rounds. The assassin still dodged all of them.

_Gotta beat him on the reload!_

With an almost casual twitch of his wrist, Nero dropped the cylinder of the revolver. He grabbed a speed loader from his coat, then tossed it into the air, releasing the shells from their holdings. As the loose shells fell to the earth, he spun, swinging the empty cylinder of the gun into the fresh rounds. Each round slid into it's chamber perfectly. It was a little trick he'd perfected over the years, way faster than changing an automatic's clip.

Despite how fast Nero was or thought he was, the assassin had vanished. Nero's eyes darted back and forth, trying to locate him, but then he heard the footsteps behind him. The assassin had somehow managed to get around him in the second that Nero took to reload. His guns were gone, and he once again held the large sword casually over his shoulder. He seemed to be admiring the cathedral's architecture, despite it being almost completely destroyed by their ongoing fight.

"I guess this doesn't quite cut it," said Nero conversationally. He twirled Blue Rose around his finger and holstered it. Spying a fallen knight's rapier embedded in the floor, he kicked it, breaking it free then catching it.

He slammed the point of the rapier into the ground, taking position in what was called the Rider's Stance. Nero twisted the exceed throttle and flames revved from near the base of the blade.

"What's the point of packin' a sword like that if you aren't even going to use it?"

The assassin inspected his own sword, almost completely ignoring Nero. He daintily placed the barbed tip of his sword onto the ground, hand on his hip, then lightly twisted the handle, mocking Nero.

Nero snarled and pulled the sword free.

_Cocky son of a-_

Nero hurled himself at the assassin, swinging the rapier. The assassin blocked again and again. His blade might have been large and powerful, but Nero's rapier was quick. He kept the man in red on the defensive, striking in every direction possible. The tail of his coat turned and flapped as he spun and turned, twisting and twirling the blade with deadly precision.

Their swords clashed again and held. Each man jockeyed for the upper hand. The assassin suddenly shoved with a new surge of strength. His sword easily pushed Nero's rapier away. He began to strike with the same rage as Nero did.

With each blow, Nero felt the weight of the sword resonate down the rapier. His hand almost threatened to drop the sword as the assault continued. Finally, his fears were met as the assassin struck with an upward sweep that flung the rapier from his hand. The assassin twirled his sword and thrust it, aiming for Nero's heart.

Unable to react in any other way, Nero raised his right arm, still hanging in it's sling. He felt the point of the sword connect. In the next instant, a powerful wave emanated from the point of impact. Nero felt his hair peel back and the tail of his coat crack like a whip. Every pew launched into the air, the sound of breaking wood almost deafening.

The small typhoon of destruction ended. The point of the assassin's sword still pressed against Nero's arm. The bandages had vaporized. For the first time, the assassin spoke.

"Hmmmm...You got a trick up your sleeve," he said, almost slyly, not the least bit shocked at what he saw.

Nero's right arm was not human. It was covered by a crimson coat of armor, like an insect's carapace. The articulated ridges that ran throughout it, as well as the exposed palm glowed with a bright, robin's egg blue light.

It was the secret he'd been hiding from the rest of the community. Ever since that incident, his right arm was that of a demon. Every day he felt the arm's influence in his head. It whispered the same thing over and over.

_Power._

For no real reason, he gave it a name: Devil Bringer. Why? Because it brought out the devil in him.

"And here I thought the cat had your tongue," Nero hissed, flexing his arm. What looked like electricity arced across it. "But if it's a trick you're looking for..."

Nero batted the sword off his arm, taking the assassin with it. He landed on his feet, skidding near the edge of the cathedral.

"Looks like you too are a-" he began.

The assassin's words were cut short. Nero's Devil Bringer projected an ethereal arm, grabbing hold of the fallen sword of the statue. He hurled it at the assassin, who casually leaned back as it narrowly missed him, tearing through a metal gate.

"Hate to interrupt," Nero spat, clapping the dust from his hands, "but I wanna wrap this up before the cavalry arrives!"

With a sly grin, the assassin swung his sword straight down, looking to cut Nero in half down the middle. To his surprise, Nero caught the sword in his demonic hand, then tossed both sword and man across the cathedral floor. The assassin landed in a heap on a pew, sliding until he hit a stack of them.

Despite the blow, the assassin casually leaned on his sword while sitting on the pew, still showing no sign of fatigue or injury.

"So, you're lookin' to play, huh?" He sighed indifferently. "Okay, I guess I got some time to kill..."

Unlike the assassin, Nero was beginning to tire a bit.

"Tough guy, huh?" he panted, then shook his head. He picked up another rapier on the ground. "Well..."

Nero spun and kicked a stray pew. It barreled towards the assassin, who jumped over it. Nero met him in midair, at the top of his arc. Each man took a swipe at each other, finding nothing but the other's blade.

Nero landed on the stack of pews, teetering madly back and forth.

"I guess I'll have to take you down a few notches!" he said grinning.

The assassin laughed. "Whatever you say, kid."

Nero wiped his nose and dove off the stack of pews, which collapsed shortly after. He and the assassin began trading blows. Striking with the rapier in his left, he blocked and repelled the assassin's blade with the Devil Bringer. Soon, the air grew acrid with the scent of hot metal as sparks flew from their blades. Anything that got between them, mostly stray pews and stone, became shredded in the frenzy of blades.

The assassin struck down again, but met the impenetrable armor of Nero's right arm.

"That all you got!" he yelled, then shoved the blade off. He punched, aiming for his face. The assassin blocked with the flat of his blade just in time. The force of the blow knocked him back off his feet. Nero finally heard him make an audible grunt of surprise.

In the blink of an eye, Nero was right next to him. He grabbed his ankle and pulled him back as if he were on a spring. The assassin had just barely enough time to register surprise before Nero drove the Devil Bringer into his face, pile driving his skull into the stone floor. Even though the force of the crash shot dust and sharp tile into his face, Nero didn't stop pummeling the assassin's face. Again and again he hit hit, yelling with each blow. He was caught in a bloodlust that seemed to be fueled by his right arm.

As he assaulted the assassin's face, he felt a peculiar surge of energy run through his body, like the tingle he felt in his arm earlier. Nero was too enraged at the assassin's persistence to not die to even care.

Nero stopped punching, then grabbed the assassin by the collar and hurled him towards the statue of Sparda. He quickly turned and grabbed his sword where it had fallen and threw it after him. The assassin's limp body had time to rebound off the stone about an inch before his own sword caught up with him, impaling him through the chest.

Hanging there crucified, the assassin gave a weak gasp and went still.

Nero panted, covered in sweat from the fight. The assassin was dead. Nero gave a flat laugh. The guy had been too damn cocky for his own good. He was good, but he crossed the line when he even thought of hurting Kyrie. He turned to leave, cracking a kink in his shoulder.

_Heh, "stall him" he says. Well, I did a lot more than stall him. Credo's gonna be pissed when he finds out he's not getting any of the glory in this. Oh well. The high and mighty captain better find a way to deal. I bet-_

"Getting better..."

Nero froze and turned.

_You have GOT to be shitting me._

The assassin lifted his head, then braced his hands against the statue. He grunted in effort.

"I would even go so far as to say I underestimated your...ughh..." He pushed himself, sword still protruding through his chest, off the statue. "...abilities." Other than his heavy breathing, the man didn't seem to be in any pain.

"You're not human, are you?" Nero asked dumbly. Of course he wasn't

"We're the same," the assassin explained. He pressed his hands against his sword and strained. "You and...ugh...I..." With a small river of blood, the assassin pulled the sword from his own chest. He held it propped it casually on it's point, though he didn't need to lean on it for support. "...and them."

He gestured to a fallen knight. What Nero saw shocked him. Instead of human corpses, there were shriveled creatures with glowing orange eyes laying in the dress uniforms. Slowly, they seemed to melt away, until only the cloth was left behind.

"Huh?" he blurted.

_What the hell did he do to-_

"Though I suspect you carry something different from the others," the assassin chimed in. He had disappeared, and was now casually sitting on the ledge of the skylight he had broken through.

"What are you talkin' about?!" Nero demanded. None of this was making sense.

"You will come to know the meaning soon enough!" he replied mystically, getting to his feet. "But, business beckons." He began to leave.

"Hey!" Nero pulled Blue Rose and fired. The two thorns struck where the man had been standing.

The man leaned over the hole on the _opposite_ side he was before.

"Adios, kid!" he said with a casual wave, then vanished.

Nero could only stare in disbelief as the weight of Blue Rose forced him to lower his arm. He was so sure that he had won, and just like that, the assassin got away. There wasn't a damn thing that Nero could do about it either. Now Credo was going to be pissed for a different reason.

Holy Knights began to pile into the cathedral, swords drawn. Quickly, Nero clutched his right arm to his chest, keeping it from sight, then worked the rolled up sleeve of his coat down to hide the gruesome limb.

* * *

**Author's Note:** **I'm not going to try to go into too much backstory about the Devil Bringer, because quite frankly, I have no idea how to do it. The game doesn't give jack about it, so I just can't take it straight from there.**


	3. La Porte de L'Enfer

**Chapter 2: La Porte de L'Enfer**

The cathedral hall looked like a scene of several natural disaster aftermaths. There was not a single piece of furniture left whole. Great gouges were left in the tiled marble floor. The once proud statue of Sparda still stood, but missing his hands, face, and bits of his arms. The blood drenched slit where the assassin hung leered like a third eye in it's gut.

Nero surveyed the wreckage, impressed with the aftermath of his abilities and of Devil Bringer's. He had found some more bandages to wrap it, though he didn't bother with the sling. If Credo knew that he held off the assassin for as long as he did, he would know that Nero was more capable than he appeared. Adding the sling would only cast suspicion where he didn't want it.

Credo stood beside him, hands clasped behind his back, staring deep in thought at the mangled statue. He was still wearing his worship regalia. No one had a break to do anything but plan and clean. For the past half hour, knights and worshipers alike had been moving wreckage out of the cathedral. It would be a while before it was all gone.

"So, you ever seen anything like it?" Nero asked Credo as the Holy Knights carried the last of the remains of the fallen knights from the cathedral.

Credo shook his head. "No, I haven't. I suspect he isn't human."

"You got that right," Nero replied dryly. "Guy took a blade through the heart and barely blinked."

"Did the assassin reveal anything to you? Let anything slip about his goals?"

Nero almost relayed the few words they had spoken to each other, then stopped. The assassin had said that they were the same, and had seen the Devil Bringer. Credo didn't need to hear any of that.

"No, didn't speak a word," Nero said slowly. "So uh, how's the situation in the city?"

Credo's usually dark features went darker. Nero saw that the death of the old man hit him hard. Credo was extremely devout, both in worship and in duty. He wasn't going to take this lightly.

"The community is in disarray. His Holiness is dead, the festival has been canceled, and a fifth of my best regiment has been destroyed. How do you think the situation is?"

Nero held up his arm, surrendering. "Okay, sorry I asked."

Credo's features relaxed a bit, though not by much.

"I'm needed at headquarters. Those who didn't witness todays events will need to be brought up to speed."

"What, so we just gonna let this guy go free?" Nero asked almost angrily.

"I didn't say that. We've already had a few reports. Witnesses have reported seeing him near Fortuna Castle. I want you to apprehend him."

Nero grinned broadly. Music to his ears.

"Thought you'd never ask."

Some of the knights that were coming and going thought to bring a few munitions cases with them. Nero replenished his rounds for Blue Rose. He stocked up on a few extra speed loaders, grabbing a few belts worth.

Blue Rose was a bit of Nero's own ingenuity and Order technology. A bit larger than standard magnum revolvers, Blue Rose sported twin over and under barrels. It's polished metal shone almost like a mirror, thorned stems etched into the barrels and cylinder. The trigger was ringed, making for controlled firing, and the handle was a solid cherry oak, shined to a mirror finish like the metal. Truly, a work of art. It was a pity that the Order didn't consider guns "honorable."

Kyrie returned dragging some obscenely large black case beside her in short, quick jerks. She gave a grunt of effort, then dragged it a few feet. Friction and weight overpowered her, and she stopped. She grunted again, pulling it a few more feet, then stopped. Her face was beet red, and she had broken into a light sweat.

Nero laid a hand on her shoulder, then helped ease the burden of the case's weight. He recognized the case, as well as the crimson Order emblem on it's top.

"You brought this here for me?" he asked, surprised.

Kyrie nodded. "Credo requested." She smiled softly. "She yearns for your touch."

_She always has such a gift with words. Maybe that's why she's such a great singer._

It was Nero's turn to smile. He knew exactly what Kyrie meant.

"Thanks," he said, taking the case easily in one hand. "This blade's the best battle companion a swordsman could wish for!" He flipped the case around and sat down in front of it, then opened it.

There in protective padding, in all her glory, lay Red Queen, Nero's favorite weapon. She required some assembly, as the complex sword was always kept disassembled for cleaning purposes. Nero began to quickly put her back together. Within moments, she stood proud once again.

Red Queen, at her core, was an Order rapier. Twice as wide and a few feet longer than normal, she had several modifications that set her apart. The most notable one was the maxed out exceed system.

Most Order rapiers had a system that ignited fuel along the back of the blade for increased swing speed and power. Red Queen had the standard exceed port, as well as two secondary lines on both sides of the blade. When the exceed gauge was activated, nearly the entire sword was bathed in fire.

Red Queen's second distinguishing feature was what gave her her name. The Order of the Sword's primary colors were white and gold. Red Queen was trimmed in...well, red. Both exceed ports on either side were crimson, and her handle, lengthened and weighted to balance the blade, was wrapped in worn red leather.

Nero couldn't help but smile wider as he stuck the point of the blade on the ground.

"Fortuna Castle, huh? Guy just came from Hell. He's gotta hit up a coupla tourist sites!"

He revved the exceed throttle and laughed as the sword growled and breathed fire, bucking in his grip. The assassin came from Hell, and he had Hell waiting for him right here.

"You jest so lightly in a time of crisis!?" Credo snapped angrily.

Nero stood and propped Red Queen on his shoulder, shooting Credo a stony. Credo seemed to realize that he was losing it and tried to calm down. Instead of snapping at Nero again, he settled for pacing back and forth.

"You must capture him," he said through gritted teeth.

"Trust me," Nero assured him, "I'll get it done."

"Please be careful," Kyrie chimed in from behind. "You still haven't recovered."

Nero felt a twinge of guilt. He had recovered faster than anyone would have expected, though it wasn't due to his own abilities. He would never dream of lying to someone as gentle as Kyrie. But those circumstances were dropped as soon as the Devil Bringer had latched onto his body. Now, he lied to protect her. He couldn't come forward until he knew the truth behind his right arm.

"There's no time, and duty calls," Nero said quickly. A look of surprise crossed his face as he turned to her.

She was still red in the face, but it wasn't from effort. The entire time he was putting together and admiring Red Queen, he hadn't noticed that she had been pawing around the wreckage, finding the now tattered gift box that he brought to the sermon. It's contents now lay around her slender neck: an interwoven set of golden leaves, suspended from a fine gold chain.

Kyrie's eyes darted sheepishly away from his, a small smile on her lips. She looked as if she wanted to thank him for the necklace, but was embarrassed at what might come out instead.

Nero smiled back warmly, then took a step closer to her. "Can't pass on an emergency."

Kyrie nodded softly, knowing very well what duties he had to do and the risks that came with them. She herself had seen what he did back in Mitis Forest, on the day he lost his arm. Instead, he opted to slide Red Queen over his left shoulder, the hilt falling into the sling on his back.

"I must return to headquarters and report," Credo said, excusing himself.

Nero was about to say something to Kyrie, to comfort her or support her, to reassure that he was going to be fine when a violent tremor ran through the ground. Both of them gasped in surprise as dust shook from the ceiling and rose from the ground. Credo too seemed just as confused as Nero and Kyrie.

The tremor continued for several seconds, then abruptly stopped. The three of them hurried outside to see if anyone else noticed it, or if it had damaged the surrounding area. Outside in the plaza of the cathedral, everything was quiet. The only sound was the running water from the decorative fountain in the center of the plaza. As they got halfway down the steps leading up to the cathedral, a panicked scream wafted over the sound of water:

"Someone help me!"

It was a man, stumbling from fatigue, near the fountain. He collapsed to the ground. As he did, a demon similar to the ones Nero had dispatched earlier leaped into view: a demonic scarecrow. The scarecrow swung a serrated blade that served as it's right arm into the back of the helpless man, then dragged him behind the fountain.

Kyrie clung to Nero, then buried her head into his shoulder, too late to avoid seeing the blood. A second passed, then the corpse of the man was hurled over the fountain and into the ground in front of them.

Pandemonium similar to the assassin's attack ensued. People began to pour into the plaza from the various gates around it. All of them were screaming as more demonic scarecrows began to drop from the rooftops. They mercilessly began to slice with their blades. Men, women, and even children began to fall as the onslaught began.

"Is this him?" Nero asked, gripping the handle of Red Queen over his left shoulder, referring to the assassin in red.

_Where the hell are the rest of the knights?_

"I...I'm...not sure," stammered Credo. He wasn't panicked. The day that Credo panicked couldn't come soon enough, in Nero's opinion. What was in his voice was calculated uncertainty, like an animal sensing a trap. His rapier was already drawn when they got outside.

Nero looked back at Kyrie. She was as white as her dress, shivering in fear. Her wide eyes looked like they were going to burst from her skull.

_Screw it. Screw the others, I'm not going to stand here and watch people get slaughtered. I'm not going to let Kyrie have to witness something like this._

"Credo," he breathed, "Take care of Kyrie..."

Nero's hand tightened around Red Queen's throttle. He twisted it, feeling the hotness of the flames against his back and the roar of the engine in his ears. His blood boiled with adrenaline and the excitement of battle.

"...I got this."

With a yell, he dove into the swarm of humans and demons, swinging at the first scarecrow he saw. His sword cut easily through it, like a knife through butter. The demon seemed to burst in it's burlap skin, a spray of crimson turning from a stream to droplets as it's blood crystallized in the air. He cut through two more, working his way deeper into the fray.

Credo and Kyrie acted as a funnel for the fleeing civilians. They hurriedly guided them towards the western gate.

"We must evacuate the residents back to headquarters!" Credo barked to Kyrie, then to Nero, "Report back as soon as you can...and be careful!"

Nero stopped hacking long enough to spread his arms in exasperation.

"I got it already!"

The scarecrows seemed to forget about the civilians and eagerly began to attack the young knight slaughtering their ranks.

"Kyrie, run!" Credo commanded. "Go with the others!"

Kyrie nodded and began to flee, helping an old woman, then stopped. A single child, a boy, was standing by the now broken fountain, crying. A stray pack of scarecrows turned at the noise and began to hoot uncontrollably with distorted laugher, as if there was some inside joke about the weeping youth. They took a few steps forward on shaky legs of wooden pegs and curved blades, then leaped into the air.

Kyrie acted without even thinking. She ran to the child as the demons leaped, then shielded him with her body. The scarecrows' dirty blades came down, ready to slice through the tender flesh of her exposed back.

Nero seemed to materialize out of thin air between them, swinging Red Queen in a wide arc. The scarecrows were knocked back in a cloud of dust and blood.

"Go, get outta here!" he yelled.

Kyrie didn't argue, she grabbed the kid and ran to the gate. Even more scarecrows began to drop into the plaza. By now, Nero was the only living human left. He wasn't fazed as more than a dozen began to encircle him. The only thing he could hear was their twisted laughter and the rattle of their blades and wooden joints.

"Not so fast," he snarled, sheathing Red Queen, then pulling the sleeve of his right arm back. Devil Bringer pulsed and burned away the bandages covering it, revealing it's blood red scales.

Nero reached back, the arm's projection grabbing the peg leg of scarecrow. He effortlessly whirled it around, smacking every demons around him into the air. He released it, hurling it and another one into the stone arch that hung over the west gate. The force of the impact shattered the stone, collapsing the arch onto several more scarecrows and effectively blocking the demons from following Credo and Kyrie.

Snatching another scarecrow, Nero slammed it into the ground, launching it and three others into the air. Red Queen was off his back in less than a second.

_So, you assholes like to prey on women, huh? Say hello to the Queen..._

Nero spun as the demons neared the ground. Red Queen bit deep into the first. As Nero turned, the blade collected another scarecrow, then another, until all four were wedged on top of each other. He revved the exceed. Red Queen screamed and erupted into a rage, slicing through all of them as Nero ended his turn.

Nero turned on the ball of his foot, acting on the force of Red Queen's fire. He cut through three more before he ground to a halt. In a flash, the blade parried the slow strikes of several attacking scarecrows' crescent blades, then hacked them to bits.

Nero plunged the point of his blade into a straggler, then revved. He carried the demon up over his head, still impaled on Red Queen, then brought it down, the tip of the sword leaving a black trench in the stone as it passed over it.

He slammed the hapless demon into the ground, then opened Red Queen's throttle all the way. Man, sword, and demon flew across the ground like some hellish motorcycle, circling the fountain once, barreling over every scarecrow in it's path. The ride ended when the scarecrow simply burned away from friction.

With one final spin and rev, Nero batted away the remaining scarecrows, They flew in all directions, smashing into stone and metal. The northern gate's pulley's broke, lowering the heavy bars, smashing the last scarecrow left standing.

Nero propped Red Queen on his shoulder, then examined Devil Bringer, flexing it and curling the claws into a fist.

"This baby sure can pack a punch," he remarked.

The remains of the scarecrows simply melted away, the energy that bound them together breaking. The crystallized blood crunched like glass beneath Nero's boots as he headed towards the northern gate. The most direct route to Fortuna Castle was through the the city's business district. Once through there, he could take the main road to the castle. There was only one problem with that route.

Nero wasn't sure as to the extent of the demons' attack. If it spread through the entire city, getting to the castle would be slow. He could spend hours fighting through it, hours he didn't have. Luckily, he knew a shortcut, one that cut through the city ports and a small mining settlement called Ferrum Hills. He could take the tunnels and come out through the mountains near the castle.

Nero entered the cathedral storage room, moving quickly. It was already almost early evening. If he moved fast enough, and was lucky, he could get to Fortuna Castle by nightfall. He took the stairs to the second floor, then left through a door leading to a small balcony.

"Shit," swore Nero when he saw the situation from a higher view.

About a hundred scarecrows occupied the main business district street. They sat upon overturned cars and buses, some of which had caught fire. All of them were twittering madly at the fallen people they had slain. Nero hoped that the east gate wasn't anything like this, or else Credo would have his hands full taking care of Kyrie. He pushed the thought out of his mind.

_Out of my hands, no point in worrying about it._

As much as he wanted to jump down and introduce them to Red Queen, Nero desisted. He had a mission to do, and he couldn't get caught up in the city. He had to catch up with the assassin before he got too far ahead.

The only problem now was to get around the army of demons on the street below. The storeroom didn't connect to any of the adjacent buildings other than a small chapel. He'd have to cut through there and hope it came through.

Before he could move, Devil Bringer let out a strange purr. Nero looked at it curiously. It seemed to be telling him something. He spied a balcony across the street with a high railing. Without even really knowing what he was doing, Nero hurled his arm forward, the crimson claw wide open. Devil Bringer projected itself longer and longer, until it gripped the railing. Like a contracting spring, Nero was yanked off his feet, following the trail of the projected arm over the mass of scarecrows below him.

He hit the railing, then hoisted himself over. Problem solved.

_Hey, this thing can be kinda useful! I wonder if it's got any other tricks?_

Now that Nero was sure of what Devil Bringer could do, he moved freely, sprinting down the balcony. When he reached the end, he launched his right arm again across the street again, drawing himself on a larger balcony which served as a drain for rainwater. If his sense of direction was right, he would just be coming into the residential section of the city.

The door on the balcony lead through a short hall, then another balcony just on the edge of the residential district. Nero had run out of rooftop, so he simply jumped off, falling two stories to the sidewalk below. The small street served as an outdoor marketplace; several stands stood wide open, holding various produce. None of them had been shut down, no doubt due to the attack.

_No bodies. Does that mean that everyone here was able to escape?_

Nero rounded a corner, and was promptly ambushed by several waiting scarecrows. Like before, the demons were not nearly a match for the experienced knight and his weapons. All of them fell to easily Blue Rose and Red Queen.

A brisk jog down the street and Nero reached the end of the buildings, where the sea began. He jogged down the steps that had been laid into the side of the shore and stepped onto the pier of Port Caerula. As it was in the residential district, the port was eerily quiet.

Nero quickly passed through, using Devil Bringer to grapple himself over the water from dock to dock. The entrance to the first mining area was dead ahead. It was actually transformed into a part of the city's sewer system ages ago, when everything valuable had been picked from it.

With Devil Bringer, Nero didn't even have to waste time wading through filth looking for the stairs to the upper level. He simply grabbed onto the railing and hoisted himself up several dozen feet. After pushing through and ancient set of doors, he found himself standing in the rocky clearing known as Ferrum Hills.

Ferrum Hills was a small, dingy settlement consisting of about a dozen wooden shacks. Most of the city folk avoided it because it was a very unlawful place, almost like a town from an old western movie. Fights broke out constantly, and the buildings always housed some type of lawbreaker. The only people who lived there were the miners who worked in the mountains around it. Nero had the displeasure of being there several times in the past. None of them had been pleasant.

However, this time around, Nero wouldn't have to put up with any of that crap. Ferrum Hills was completely deserted. Each building was dark, not a soul in sight. He didn't really feel bad if they were attacked. The people who hung around there deserved it.

Nero began to walk down the only street that ran through the settlement, then stopped. There was something jutting out of the cliffs in front of him, something that Nero either hadn't noticed before, or wasn't there last time he was in Ferrum Hills.

The first thing that crossed Nero's mind was that it looked like a door. A big, stone door that stood three stories tall. It was jet black, save for some raised ancient markings around it. Despite the fact that Nero never saw it before didn't prevent the fact that he had seen something like it before.

It was almost identical to a similar object back in the city, except smaller. The one back in the city was about ten stories. It was tucked behind the cathedral, and it was claimed that it was an actual Hell Gate that Sparda sealed 2,000 years ago.

_So what's an almost identical door doing in Ferrum Hills?_

"Let me guess," he said aloud, answering his own question. "More demons?"

A soft, orange light began to glow in speckles from the door, getting brighter and brighter. Then, the stone seemed to peel away like burning wood. The speckles became holes, larger and larger, until gusts of flames burst like a dam from the door. The flames spewed out something physical, which landed on the far side of the street with a thunderous crash.

It was a creature, taller than any of the grubby buildings around. It was built like a centaur from Greek mythology. It stood on a long body, supported by four legs. Instead of hooves, each foot was like a flaming lion's paw. It's torso was humanoid, two arms and a head.

The creature's skin was jet black, looking like volcanic rock. Flames burned all over it like veins. Two horns of what looked like molten rock jutted from it's skull. From it's shoulders spanned a wide set of wings of pure fire. The creature's entire body was pumped, like a body-builder on steroids. In it's left hand it carried a rock-like sword the size of a bus that glowed with embers.

The beast let out a roar and stretched it's body, bathing the area in flames. The wooden shacks caught fire and began to roast. The beast casually cracked it's neck then spoke, it's voice a low growl.

"**Ahh, the human world,**" it said to itself, almost pleasantly, then began to tread down the street. "**It's been a while...**"

Nero fanned himself casually from the heat, then began walking to meet it. The massive centaur didn't acknowledge him as he passed almost close enough to touch it. The heat from it's body was sweltering. After brushing by it, Nero paused, then unslung Red Queen, whirling it in a vicious circle. The resulting gust doused the fires burning from the buildings. A loose sign sputtered incessantly as it spun on it's hinges, then fell to the ground.

_I guess I gotta play fireman, since this shit hole doesn't seem to have any._

The gust caught the attention of the demon. The wind from Nero's sword had also extinguished several smaller fires burning on his body.

"**How curious...**" it rumbled as it turned towards him. Buildings near it spontaneously caught fire from the surrounding heat.

"Fire's bad for the complexion," Nero called up to it. "I burn easily, never tan."

"**When I came to this world 2,000 years ago, there was no such human as the like of you,**" it said, looking at him through glowing narrowed eyes.

The beast stepped closer, standing directly in front of Nero. The scent of liquid rock and smoke stung his nostrils. Like before, the heat was almost unbearable, making the air shimmer around him.

Nero craned his neck up to look it in the face.

"You wanna make it another 2,000?" he challenged.

"**Silence!**" It screamed, then drew back it's sword and thrusted.

Nero stepped forward and stabbed with Red Queen, meeting the flaming claymore on it's point. Though the beast had hundreds of times the mass and weight, Nero held his ground. Red Queen's tip glowed yellow from the heat, but she was used to fire.

The power of the demon was immense, but not insane. Nero's arm didn't even buckle. He shoved, pushing the sword away.

The beast withdrew his blade and took a few steps back, a brief look of surprise crossing it's molten features. Surprise turned to rage.

"**Futile pest!**" it roared, it's fire brightening to almost white hot. "**You will suffer the wrath of Berial, I, the conquerer of the Fire Hell!**"

_Berial, huh? Glad it's got a name!_

Nero opened up with Blue Rose. Within a second, he discharged all it's thorns into the face and chest of Berial. The flaming demon merely laughed and swiped his sword casually, leveling two buildings. Nero broke out into a smile.

_I was hoping it wasn't going to be that easy!_

Blue Rose tucked securely away, he grabbed Red Queen. He dropped her point into the ground, then sprinted towards the demon, leaving a rut behind him. He leaped into the air, then revved the exceed, launching himself in a line towards Berial's face.

Berial was either too slow or didn't anticipate the deep bite of Red Queen. The blade sliced cleanly through one burning cheek, a line of hot yellow blood arcing into the air. Berial roared and swung his arm, knocking Nero out of the air like a fly. He crashed through the roof of a building, finding himself in some dingy bar.

Unhurt, he quickly got to his feet and broke through a wall with Devil Bringer, just as Berial brought his flaming sword down on the shack. The building collapsed in a heap of ash and wood. The demon finally seemed to be taking him seriously.

Back out in the street, Nero rolled out of the way as Berial's sword came straight down again. The resounding impact on the ground rattled Nero's teeth. He came out of his roll, ignoring the fire that was beginning to spread across the ground and sliced up, a technique he referred to as a high roller. Red Queen cut into Berial's left arm.

Roaring once again in frustration, Berial swung his sword in a horizontal arc. Nero ducked as the hot blade almost razed his back. Running through the flying debris from two more buildings being demolished, he sprinted towards the front leg of Berial. He ran up to the knee, slicing at his thigh, then jumped into the air, hacking with Red Queen on his chest. He revved the exceed, then swung with all his strength, putting himself into a spin like a lopsided helicopter. The roulette, as Nero called it, ripped about a dozen deep gashes into Berial's chest.

Berial's front leg buckled from the cut. He collapsed, holding the wounds on his chest. Nero landed, took half a second to collect himself from the spin, then leaped into the air, reaching out with Devil Bringer. The massive claw shot out, gripping Berial by the face and jerking him into the air.

"That all you got!" Nero screamed in a fury of adrenaline, then hurled him into the ground, face first. "DOWN TO HELL YOU GO!"

Berial's head left a deep crater in the dirt. Nero landed, not ready to finish quite yet. Reaching out again with Devil Bringer, he ripped Berial out of the hole and into the air, then released him. He drew back and punched with all of his strength, Devil Bringer growing and speeding like a bullet, driving itself into Berial's gut.

Berial fell back on the last remaining building, smashing it under his weight. This time, he emitted a groan of pain.

"**Your arm...You are not human!**"

"Don't ask," Nero said, looking at his right arm. "Damn thing drives me crazy though."

Berial gripped his flowing wounds, still draining yellow blood. The lumber it landed on burst into flames as it pooled into and on the wreckage that was once Ferrum Hills.

"**You are just like **_**he**_** was...**"

"And 'he' would be...?"

Berial didn't care to explain. The massive demon got to it's feet, using it's sword as leverage, still holding it's wounds.

"**I must restore my powers**," he said, then in a flash, turned into a writhing cyclone of fire.

Nero didn't flinch as a hot wind beat his coat back, hurling bits of wreckage at him. The cyclone flew into the air, then swept around Nero, who raised his arms to shield his face from the fire. The fire whirled around him once like an annoying insect, then flew towards the stone door on the cliff, burying itself into the ember-like holes.

"Hey!" Nero yelled after it, but the fire had already vanished into the holes. The holes slowly closed, until the door stood silent again.

Nero shook his head in irritation. That thing picked a fight with him, then ran with it's burning tail between it's legs just when he was kicking it's ass. Between both of them, they managed to erase Ferrum Hills from the map. Not a single building was left standing, and the resulting fires were going to take care of the debris in a few hours.

Sighing, Nero continued on his path to Fortuna Castle, stepping on a charred sign that ran the cheerful blurb 'Welcome to Ferrum Hills!'

**Author's Note:** **If anyone knows what Nero says during the second Buster throw in game, I would greatly like to know, so I could put it in. I heard part of it clearly, but I didn't want to put it in until I was 100 sure. And I realize that the fights aren't as epic as they are in game. In real life, they'd probably be alot shorter. If any players of the game have suggestions, I would love to hear 'em. Any non players of the game want explanations, feel free to ask.**


	4. The White Wing

**Chapter 3: The White Wing**

Nero wasn't kidding when he said that fire was bad for his complexion. His entire face was flushed. He wasn't burnt, but his body was taking it's sweet time in compensating from the heat. It felt like he'd just stuck his head in an oven.

After thinking about turning back for a few minutes, Nero decided against it. Berial might return, but if he did, it wouldn't be anytime soon. Not after a beating like that. He could swing by headquarters and tell them about the Hell Gate. He still needed to bring in the assassin.

The mining tunnels were close to Ferrum Hills. Nero had cut through there several times, and although the tunnels changed every few months, he knew which ones would bring him out on the other side of the mountain.

He entered the tunnel entrance, following the mine cart track to the first cavern. The tunnel hit a t-junction. Nero followed the right tunnel, emerging into the wide hollowed out space. A small spring deep within the mountain gave birth to a waterfall that fell on the far side of it. Various scaffolds were built along the edges of the walls to reach higher as more earth was dug away. Nero heard the twittering laughter just in time over the roar of the waterfall.

He ducked as a serrated blade sang over his head, then had to hop and roll to dodge a second to avoid losing his legs. The result was his body twisting in a bizarre corkscrew. He managed to stick the landing, though he needed to plant his hand against the ground to steady himself.

Three scarecrows had jumped high from the scaffolding. Nero raked Red Queen off his back and slashed into them with a classic rapier streak.

"Begone!"

All three were flung back into the cavern wall. Two fell into separate halves, while the third tottered on it's legs, a giant rip in it's side. Nero extended Devil Bringer, striking it like a snake, then pulled it to him. He slammed it's faceless head into the ground. It writhed briefly and went still.

_Well, I guess this is what happened to the crowd from Ferrum Hills. They must have ran into the mines to escape, but I don't think they got far._

Free of the distractions, Nero began to scout his next route. He spotted it immediately; with Devil Bringer, he could bypass a set of tunnels completely. The scaffolds were almost like a ladder. He probably didn't even need the demonic arm to climb them.

Taking firm hold of a wooden beam, Nero pulled himself up with his right arm. He cleared the first twelve feet, then grabbed onto another, yanking himself up again. He repeated the move again and again, tracing the falling water towards it's source.

One final time, Nero pulled himself onto the top of the scaffolding. He got his bearings, then took the tunnel that led to one of the dumping zones. Equipment was scattered everywhere: mining tools, carts, rope as well as a variety of debris. Nero took one of the outgoing tunnels leading north. He felt a small wisp of cold air against his face. He was getting close to the outside.

The air grew colder and colder, which surprised him. It was perfectly comfortable outside when he entered the mines, even though the sun had begun to dip below the horizon. He followed the current of air, tracing it to a boarded up tunnel.

Nero smirked and drew back Devil Bringer. The boards may as well have been paper compared to it's fist. He stepped through the debris, tensing as a wave of freezing air hit him. A look of surprise crossed his face when he saw the white powder bordering the edges of the cave entrance.

_Snow? Impossible!_

Nero scooped up a handful. It was snow alright. Fresh, crisp snow, fallen from a winter's night. The only problem was that it _wasn't_ winter. It was the end of summer. He stepped through the snow to the cave entrance.

The wind was blowing heavily down the cliffs, the visibility almost zero. Nero had stepped into the middle of a blizzard. It didn't make sense. Fortuna had a temperate climate, the usual four seasons. This snow wasn't natural. It didn't _feel_ natural. Nero didn't mind being cold that much, but this was different. It cut much deeper.

Nero didn't wait around to think any longer. He needed to get to Fortuna Castle before he got hypothermia, or turn back, and the latter wasn't an option. He took off running, sprinting through the ankle deep snow that had accumulated on the cliffs. The road on the cliff narrowed, the right side plunging into a fathomless depth. Nero kept his eyes glued on the path. He didn't want to take a tumble that would cost him his life.

The blinding snow and wind seemed to be caused by the geologic formation of the mountain. After Nero passed the cliff, the wind ceased, and no snow whipped through the air anymore. The sky was crystal clear, and the full moon had risen over Fortuna Castle.

The castle was an impressive feat of architecture hundreds of years old. It spanned several acres, riddled with passages and old relics of the Order of the Sword. Like Nero had said to Credo, it was a major tourist attraction. Although tonight, the castle housed an unwelcome guest. The assassin was reported to be hiding in there somewhere.

The cliffs began to widen out, ancient bits of masonry dotting the path. A column here, a ruined arch there. All of them were covered with snow.

_Jeez, Credo said that witnesses saw the guy here. Couldn't they have mentioned the damn weather too?_

Nero spotted his way down from the cliffs. There had been a staircase centuries ago, but now it lay in ruins several hundred feet below him, the cliffs below still supporting long forgotten struts. At the end of the cliffs there was a watchtower that still stood. Back in ancient days, it served as a lookout for the castle. Next to it was a large segment of the staircase. Nero had climbed down it easily in the past, and now Devil Bringer would make the descent loads easier.

As he walked onto the ancient stone platform, however, the rock began to shift. The watchtower trembled, then slowly fell over, striking the base of the platform. Nero grunted and ducked as the stone shattered. The platform collapsed, falling down the cliff with Nero amongst the wreckage.

He quickly jumped out of the falling mass of rock to avoid being smashed when it hit the ground. He landed heavily on his feet, the powdery snow helping break his fall. Behind him, the wreckage hit the ground, enveloping him in a mass of cold snow and flying grit.

Nero brushed himself free of dust as the snow settled. His hand slowly stopped pawing at the front of his hoodie; he felt himself being watched. He looked up, almost missing them completely. They were standing so still in the moonlight Nero almost mistook them for statues. High above him they perched silently on part of the castle's gate.

They were two creatures armored in metallic gray scales and ice. Ice on their right arms was spread smooth and thick, spread like a shield. Their left arms held three long, serrated claws, also made of ice. A powerful white tail slowly swayed in the wind.

One tipped it's avian head back, complete with two sleek horns, and gave a hollow roar. Both of them jumped into the air.

Nero stepped back into a fighting stance, ready to draw Red Queen. The frost demons' leaps were easy to read. All he had to do was wait until one of them was stupid enough to come at him and-

-in a flash, the two frosts seemed to disintegrate, then materialized in front of him, bringing their icy claws up. Caught off guard, Nero jumped back, feeling just the tips of them graze his trailing coat. The second frost compensated for it's partners miss, striking at Nero as he landed. He tumbled into a back roll, wet snow sliding down his shirt as the claws sang over him.

Nero completed his roll, pulling Red Queen over his shoulder in one motion. He brought her up in a high roller, but the frost was quick. It nimbly jumped back and the blade cut only air.

The first frost leaped into the air. There was a sound of breaking ice, and three icy darts shot at Nero. He dodged to the side, then another three sailed out, missing him by inches.

As the demon landed, gleaming ice grew from it's arms, regrowing the claws it had launched.

The second one lunged towards him and tried to rake it's claws into him again. Nero ducked underneath it's swipe, swinging Red Queen and hacking off it's arm, then sprinted for the second. Cracking ice sounded again and the demon crossed it's arms and threw it's claws once again.

Nero rolled underneath the volley and brought his blade up. The frost disintegrated in front of Nero. What felt like a gust of wind passed him, filled with stingy bits of ice. The frost rematerialized behind him. Nero drew Blue Rose and opened up on it. The revolver's thorns ripped holes all over it.

The demon roared and huddled into a ball, enveloping itself in a white mist. Nero turned his attention to the one with the missing arm, only to find that it had regenerated. The demon was now in mid jump, claws splayed to take Nero's head.

Nero got the point of Red Queen around just in time. He buried it into the demon's gut, then shoved it over his head. It fell into a snow bank with a white flurry.

The second frost began to get back up. The gaping holes in it's body were slowly closing, filling in with ice. Nero reached out with Devil Bringer, seizing it by it's tail. With a roar of strength, he began to whirl the ice demon around his head. With a final yell, he hurled it at the other, which had just bounded to it's feet. The two collided, sailing backwards until they collided with one of the many columns dotting the ground.

"Slam dunk!"

The column trembled from the impact, but stayed standing. The two frosts' exploded into a thousand shards of icy fragments, which slowly turned into whispers of snow, then disappeared. The night was silent once again.

Nero shook the kink out of his right shoulder, then sheathed Red Queen. He headed towards the bridge that lead to the front door of Fortuna Castle.

The bridge was about a hundred meters long several wide, constructed from stone and metal. Down the center of it was a metal grate, giving view to the near bottomless crevice that it spanned. Far below, a wide river churned, it's current inaudible from such a height.

Nero was feeling glad to finally get out of the cold that was chapping his body when he heard a mangled shriek from high above. Something leaped from the roof of the castle.

Nero drew Blue Rose, ready to pop it out of the sky, but stopped. His shooting eye was focused on the target, years of practice making the distant target almost crystal clear. It was a scarecrow, but something was attached to it, pure white, like the snow. At first, he thought it was a another frost demon.

"Huh?"

_A person?_

The figure latched onto the demon, bringing them both into a spin. As they fell, the figure wound up on top, hurtling the scarecrow to the ground. The scarecrow was embedded in the bridge's metal grate in an earth shattering piledrive. The impact created a small geyser of snow and dust that clouded the air. When it settled, the scarecrow was visible, it's body comically sticking out of the bridge. The figure that still clung to it parted it's wooden legs and peered at Nero with piercing blue eyes.

It was a woman, with deep, tan skin and pure white hair, cut short with a full set of bangs. What surprised Nero the most was that she wore the white and gold of the Order of the Sword, though it was a heavily...modified uniform.

It began with a white blouse with a high, regal-like collar that reached the bottom of her ears. The sleeves of it were rolled up, much like Nero's coat, to reveal the gold lining inside. It had a plunging neckline, going well past her bust to her navel. The entire thing seemed ready to burst from her ample bosom, had it not been for the gold cord to suture the garment back together like a corset. Blue epaulets stood proudly on her shoulders, and long white opera gloves adorned her slender arms.

The blouse had dangling tails in the back, as well as one in the front to cover her sensitive areas. It seemed to connect to her thigh-length white boots by lacy garters. Nero happened to note that she wasn't wearing anything that resembled pants or a skirt. There was only the slender curve of her dark hips.

"Oh..." she said curiously from her perch on top of the demon.

Before Nero could respond, a dozen more scarecrows dropped around her. They began to attack, the first swiping downward with a dirty blade. The woman flipped, hurling the corpse of the scarecrow into the path of the blade with her legs. She nimbly flipped back again and again on her hands and feet, deftly dodging each scarecrow's attempt to take a piece from her.

As another scarecrow swung it's blade, her legs spread wide, then scissored, clamping down on it. She flipped herself over, taking the scarecrow for a spin, then landed, straddling the blade between her legs.

All the while the woman was laughing passionately.

With a dancer's grace, she curled her body. A dagger was suddenly in her hand. Moving like water, she leaned back and stabbed deep into the scarecrow whose blade was captive between her powerful legs. She slashed a few more that dared to get closer, twisting to her feet in mid-cut. Three more fell to powerful strokes of the dagger.

With a prance, she vaulted into the air, sending both heels of her tall boots into the head of one of the scarecrow's. Her long legs scissored again, striking a scarecrow that was about to attack from behind, just as the rest of the pack jumped into the air to descend upon her.

The woman let out a throaty purr and simply turned into a blender; her body spinning, legs outstretched, hammering the pack to the ground as they dropped in on her. She landed on one, then promptly drove her boot into another. She turned just in time to dodge another's blade. Her body flowed like water again as she arched herself backwards, letting the blade come inches to her chest.

Laughing in pure ecstasy again, she tossed her dagger into the air from behind her back. The scarecrow could only stand there stupidly as it tried to recover from it's heavy swing. She caught the blade in her left hand, then puckered her lips, slicing it across the throat. Her hand dropped casually, almost lady-like to her hip as she raked the blade back across, finishing it with a flourish. The scarecrow burst in it's sack-skin with a gooey spray of blood.

Her lips curled into a smile just as a missed scarecrow leaped into the air behind her, about to cleave her in half. She was too slow to dodge it.

With a bang, Blue Rose interjected and annihilated it. The demon burst in mid-air, it's blood falling to the bridge behind her.

The woman searched for the source of the shot, drawing her attention back to Nero and his smoking revolver. Her smile grew wider. Standing with her hand still on her hip, she seemed to be made of nothing but curves.

"I owe you thanks," she purred lightly with a puff of white breath, then began to saunter towards him. The exaggerated roll of her hips and body seemed to make her weave through the cold air.

"You're from the Order?" Nero asked slowly, wiping his running nose. "Never seen you before..."

"I'm new," she pronounced, offering her gloved hand. "Gloria."

She winked at him. Her iris's were such a light blue that they seemed almost white.

Nero didn't take her hand. Instead, he looked away from her provocative form. Almost instantly, she melted back into his field of vision, curving her body enticingly.

"You're Nero right?" she asked, still smiling. Her eyes darted up and down his form. "I've heard rumors..."

Nero tried to turn away from her again, shielding Devil Bringer behind his back. If she was new, then she shouldn't be suspicious of his arm. Still, what were these rumors she was talking about? Were the others beginning to suspect something?

"Hasn't everyone?" he said offhanded, trying to show his indifference. He turned the other way, trying to lose Gloria's deep eyes. Just as quickly, she leaned into view again.

"Quite a few, in fact," she replied condescendingly with an arched eyebrow. "And none too flattering..."

Nero rolled his eyes at her vagueness, then turned away from her again. This time, she she kept to herself. He crossed his arms, Devil Bringer tucked under his left. He was freezing standing on the castle bridge. Gloria didn't seemed to be bothered by the cold, and her outfit didn't exactly provide much warmth.

"So what's the deal?" Nero asked her. "Where they comin' from?"

Gloria twirled her ornamental dagger around her forefinger casually.

"It's strange," she remarked, "No matter the number you kill, more will come."

So the Order didn't know any more than he did. It didn't exactly help the situation, but Nero had his own problems to worry about.

Nero turned say good-bye and head into the castle, then stopped. Gloria had crouched low, one leg splayed out to the side. She leaned over and slowly slid her dagger into the back of her boot near her thigh. Nero couldn't help but stare at the perfectly toned skin and muscles that had pummeled the pack of demons only minutes ago. Two of her fingers slowly caressed her flesh teasingly as her hand retracted.

Nero caught himself staring, then realized that Gloria was staring right back, purposely teasing him with her motions. Her eyes hadn't left him the entire time. She was still staring at him almost hungrily. He let out a breath of embarrassment and looked away. She grinned almost triumphantly.

"Then I'll leave that chore to you," Nero said quickly before he got distracted again. "I've got some personal slaying to take care of."

Gloria nodded, for the first time looking professional. "I'll join with the others," she assured him, "We'll take care of them."

One of the scarecrows near her twitched suddenly. Gloria's long leg came down hard on the back of it. She ground the gleaming white heel of her boot on it, and it went still. She chuckled and gave a small curtsy.

"May the Savior be with you on your journey," she quoted, then strutted off, the wag of her rear bidding farewell to Nero.

"Tch, Savior..." Nero muttered in disgust.

At long last, Nero finally shoved open the mighty doors of Fortuna Castle. The entrance hall was by no means warm, but at least warmer than the frigid air outside. He was no longer in danger of freezing to death. The massive wooden doors clanked shut behind him.

The grand hall was one of the largest areas in the castle. It was about the size of the cathedral back in the city, both in space and hight. Before the Order of the Sword moved their headquarters to the outskirts of Mitis Forest, the castle served as their base. The grand hall was the primary place of worship. Ancient pews still stood in rows before a stone pulpit.

An outer balcony ran around the perimeter of the grand hall. On the north wall stood a massive painting of the late leader of the Order, old man Sanctus. It had been painted a while back, though the old man still looked old.

The massive candelabra that hung from the ceiling was dark, but the castle had been wired for electricity long ago. The lights were on, dimly illuminating the grand hall in a pale yellow light. Whether it had been someone from the Order, or the assassin was unknown to Nero.

_First the guy kills the old man, now he's running up the electricity bill. He's definitely got a problem._

Nero decided to start his search on the first floor, then comb the area for the assassin. If he was hiding here, Nero would smoke him out. He began his trek through the castle. Every long, high hallway was filled with tapestries and art. Old suits of armor stood silent watch at entrances, and lit candles guided the way to darker corridors with flickering light.

_Why are all the candles lit? I don't think he'd waste time lighting them, not to mention drawing the attention to himself. Did Gloria light them? Although why would she? She was just passing through to help the other knights. Somethings not right about this._

What that something was, Nero didn't know. He kept his mind to his search. Around every corner, he expected to see the assassin's grim blade come down on him, but it never did.

Nero searched every room he came across. The large, U-shaped hall was empty. Most of the doors were even locked. Even in the most likely places for a sadistic demon to hide, like the torture chamber, there was no trace of the assassin.

After a few hours, Nero moved on to the next floor. On a balcony in the back of the castle, he saw the Foris Falls. The Foris Falls were a system of water falls that flowed behind the castle. They also served as the hidden entrance to headquarters. The mechanism for stopping the falls and extending the bridge were hidden inside the castle.

_He wouldn't have passed through to HQ. He wouldn't know where the controls are, and he's not stupid. He's gotta be here somewhere!_

Nero passed through the balcony around the central courtyard. It had begun to snow again, the flakes falling thick, adding to the foot already laying on the ground. He worked his way back to the first floor, intending on cutting through the central courtyard to get to the other half of the castle. He was surprised to find the door locked.

The central courtyard door had an intricate locking mechanism. Four large devices called gyro blades stood before it. They were ancient Order training tools, like large tops that spun with outstretched blades. Now, they were considered barbaric, and thus put on display for history lessons.

_Looks like someone pulled the mercury._

Small blue fires should have been burning on top of them, but they were out. The four gyros burned a special fuel called anima mercury, due to it's silver color. When all four were lit, the door would be unlocked. Nero didn't know why the lock worked like that, but the task of lighting them was simple enough. He just needed the anima mercury.

Nero stood for a minute, rubbing his temple. He knew that the mercury was kept somewhere in the castle, he just needed to remember where...

After a minute, he snapped his fingers. The library. There was some in there last time he was at the castle. It would take him 20 minutes to get there and back in a dead run.

He sprinted through the halls, keeping an eye out for an ambush either by the assassin or more demons. He cut through the large u-hall, then headed to the second floor of the grand hall. From there, he headed to the art gallery that housed a small amount of the castle's total worth. Past the gallery was a quick stretch of balcony that lead to the library.

The library was in a controlled state of disarray when Nero got there. Books lay stacked and opened on every surface. A bit confused, Nero looked at a few of them. They were all about demons, old and new. The room wasn't trashed, so there wasn't a fight here. The Order members that watched the castle always kept the place spotless. It looked like someone was doing a shitload of homework.

"Didn't figure this guy for a bookworm," Nero muttered as he turned a few pages of a book detailing an ancient summoning ritual.

A whoosh of air sounded behind him. Nero spun and leveled Blue Rose, adrenaline spiking for an attack.

It was a Holy Knight, clad in a full set of white armor. Nero didn't think that knights still wore that kind of thing. In addition to being fully armored, the knight held a shield in his left hand, and an ancient lance in his right. Nero noted right away that an exceed system had been built into the hilt of it.

Nero let go of the breath he had inhaled. "That's one way to get yourself shot," he said, releasing the hammer of the revolver.

The knight didn't respond, but it cocked it's head, looking at Nero's right arm. Subtly, Nero moved Devil Bringer out of sight behind his coat. He holstered Blue rose with a twirl, then turned to look at the book he had been paging through.

"So, you after this guy too, or just here to catch some demons?" Nero inquired casually. This guy had to be one of the ones that had seen the assassin.

The knight didn't respond. Instead, he began to slowly march forward. Despite the fact that he appeared in silence, his greaves clanked loudly on the library's ceramic floor.

Nero gave the knight an irritated look over his shoulder, then turned his attention back to the book.

"Silent type, huh? Well that's...annoying," he said.

The clanking footsteps ceased. There was a loud series of rattles. Too loud to be casual movement. Nero whirled around with the book in his hand. He brought it up and snapped it shut, right onto the shaft of the lance that had been gunning for the back of his skull.

"So much for friendly banter," Nero grunted as he clamped down on the weapon with the book's binding.

The knight ripped his lance away from the book, then swung it at Nero's head. He ducked and the weapon sailed past, smashing a globe on a desk. The lance came down again, smashing the table and sending pages scattering everywhere.

Nero was too quick for the slow but powerful weapon. He spun away as the lance shattered the desk, discarding the book in his hand and taking hold of Red Queen. He unslung her viciously, letting her kiss the ground hard. He placed her point on the ground in a cocky rider's stance.

"If you wanna fight, then come on!"

He gave Red Queen's throttle a light twist. She growled and breathed fire. The pages in the air began to flutter slowly to the ground.

The knight ripped it's lance from the hole it made in the tile. He spun the heavy weapon easily in its hand and whirled to face him. A strange, green light emitted from the visor slits in the helmet.

_What the hell is with this guy?_

Nero lunged forward, bringing Red Queen around to streak off the knight's head. The knight responded with a quick thrust of his lance. Nero quickly sidestepped, then stepped back into place, bringing his blade down. The knight blocked Red Queen with his shield, then shoved Nero off. The lance came around again, looking to smash Nero into the wall. He dodged, the lance gouging out more books from the shelves.

Nero struck again and again with Red Queen. Each time, the knight blocked with the shield. Even with her exceed gauge, Red Queen couldn't break through it. The knight thrust his lance again. Nero raised his sword, unable to get out of the way. The force of the impact resounded through the blade and into his body.

Recovering from the blow, Nero managed to clip the side of the knight with a glancing blow. The armor held, but the knight fell off balance. Before he could strike again, Nero sensed another presence behind him.

He dodged the lance just in a time. A second, identical knight had appeared from nowhere. Nero skirted away, putting distance between them, then drew Blue Rose. Screw what the Order thought of guns. He would show them first hand why they were badass.

He let off a few rounds into the helmet of the second knight. The rounds dented the engraved mask, also emitting the green light. Nero spun with Red Queen, revving her exceed. The blade sliced through the armor of the first knight, who was just preparing to counterattack. A black, charred gash appeared in the almost flawless white armor, running from the knights gut and out it's shoulder.

The knight teetered, about to fall. Nero grabbed the hilt of his lance with Devil Bringer, then ripped it from it's grip. With a lunge, Nero drove the lance through the second knight, then racked the exceed throttle. Blue flames shot from the hilt, and the lance propelled the knight into the far wall like a rocket. The wall shattered behind it, sending books and paper everywhere.

The knight's armor shattered, but there was no body impaled on the lance. The armor fell to the ground with a great clatter, the lance sticking out of the wall like an unhammered nail. The helmet bounced along the ground, coming to rest at Nero's boots. He squatted and picked it up by one of the curved horns that mimicked a halo.

"Empty?" he asked in disbelief. He looked at the other knight. Only armor as well.

Slowly, the armor began to glow, growing brighter and brighter. It slowly faded from sight, leaving only a flurry of particles that also vanished. The helmet Nero held followed suite, melting away in his fingers.

"So, a demon...it possessed the Order's armor." He stood up, brushing his hands, though there was nothing on them. "That's not a good sign."

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry that these chapters are so long. I'd rather not split each mission into parts, because then I'll never finish this. Once again, I hope you're all enjoying this. Action scenes are tough, so if you have any suggestions, let me know. **


	5. Cold Blooded

**Chapter 4: Cold Blooded**

It took Nero an additional twenty minutes to find the anima mercury stash in the library. Why it was held in a secret compartment was beyond him. It wasn't like the stuff was valuable. Finding the compartment was pure luck. In the previous battle with the knights, one of Blue Rose's rounds ricocheted and went stray. Light had filtered in through the hole in the wall. With Devil Bringer, he blew through the rest of the wall, and sure enough, he found a large vial on a table. It was filled with the glowing blue substance he had been searching for.

Nero grabbed the vial and started on his way back to the central courtyard. As he cut back through the art gallery, he got a chance to try an old gyro blade.

Two frost demons appeared from nowhere as soon as Nero stepped into the gallery. The demons attacked him on sight. As Nero dodged their claws, he noticed a gyro blade on display at the end of the gallery. Rather than attack the frost's directly, he continued to evade their thrown claws and lunging swipes. He lit the fuse on top of the ancient gyro with the vial of mercury when he got close enough.

The fuse burst into a bright blue flame and the device began to hum. Long serrated blades that were folded along the length of the device snapped outward. Balanced on it's tip, the giant top balanced from some internal gyroscope, hovering menacingly.

To avoid the demons' claws, Nero had to dance back the length of the gallery, only to dance back partway. He streaked Red Queen across their paths, forcing them to jump back. In one motion, Nero jumped and spun again, landing next to the blade gyro. He swung, letting Red Queen kiss the ends of the blades. The blades began to spin like a helicopter, almost a blur.

The frosts seem to hesitate, claws and shields poised to attack. Nero took the opportunity to sock the gyro with Devil Bringer. The instant he did, the device turned into a small tornado of blades. It shot across the ground, it's fine point leaving a trench in the carpet and stone floor. The gyro blade struck the first frost by surprise. The spinning blades ejected a fine white powder of ice into the air as the upper half of the demon disintegrated.

As the gyro blade collided and sliced through the frost, it ricocheted. It bounced back and forth the wall as if it were possessed. The second frost did it's best to try and avoid it, ultimately failing as it hacked off its shield arm in one pass, then rebounding and digging into it's back. Like the first one, the frost exploded into a cloud of white ice as it's body was shaved away.

Unfortunately for Nero, the gyro blade didn't stop there. It continued to rage around the room, taking chunks out of the wall and art. He had to quickly dodge it again and again, or else become a shredded mass of human remains. Finally, it slowed to a stop.

_I guess that's why the Order doesn't use these things anymore._

The room, or what was left of it, was a wreck beyond repair.

_Then again, I don't think it was meant to be used like that._

Nero continued on his way along the castle halls, cutting through the dining room, which was set for dinner. The table was always set, but Nero had the impression that someone had eaten recently. Several of the chairs were off centered. He entered the large u-hall on the southern end, and was at the door to the central courtyard in seconds.

It took only a minute to light all four gyro blades standing silent watch at the gate. Nero waited another, tapping his foot impatiently while he waited for the mercury to fully cycle through the machines. A series of clicks sounded, locks being released. Nero pushed open the large door, and was greeted by a blast of freezing air.

The weather outside had intensified. The light snow that Nero had seen on his run through the upper balcony had thickened. The wind had picked up measurably, turning his visibility into nothing but white like it had back on the cliffs.

_Dammit, not again._

He knew where the other door was, and the courtyard was closed off, so he couldn't get lost. He could just grope around for it by following the wall.

Just as he was about to set out, he heard a tantalizing feminine laugh. At first, he thought it was Gloria again, but then another laugh joined the first. Pretty soon, all he heard was the longing, passionate giggling through the wind. Nero whirled around looking for the source.

"_Over here..._" purred one of the voices.

Like a parting curtain, some of the snow vanished. He saw them: two dancing figures in the center of the courtyard. They were two women of ethereal beauty. Despite the conditions, they were both nude. Their long flowing hair waved and floated, as if they were underwater. A light blue aura hung around them, making them even more alluring.

Nero was undeniably turned on for second, but then he blinked, and his senses caught onto the details. The two women were floating a few inches off the ground. Behind them, past the flying snow, he saw a familiar object: another Hell Gate. Unlike the one in Ferrum Hills, this one was emitting pockets of deep purple light instead of orange fire.

The two women seemed to swim to each other, then embraced. They began to run their hands over their supple bodies, then gestured to him. Their voices and laughter echoed around the courtyard.

"_Don't you want to come? Don't you want to play with us? Come here..._"

Nero flexed Devil Bringer. Even the arm didn't seem to be agreeing.

"This blizzard must be these demons..." Nero muttered to himself.

One of the women paused from fondling the breasts of the other to beckon to him. They giggled again and returned their attention to each other. Nero began to walk towards them, carefully studying there movements, waiting for an attack.

When he got close, he took hold of Red Queen and struck. The two women broke apart quickly and bounced away. Staying on the offensive, Nero lunged for the nearest one. The woman, or whatever demon it might have been, darted from the blade again and again. Eventually Nero nicked her. The woman yelped in a very human voice, then jerked away, a small bleeding slash on it's body.

The second woman attacked Nero just as he was turning about. One thick strand of it's hair formed a thin, scalpel-like blade. Like a whipping tentacle, it swept the knife upward, aiming for Nero's throat. He cocked his head, hearing the blade whisper past his ear, then struck back. Like before the woman flowed and weaved around Red Queen's blade. Every so often, it would procure a blade from it's body and lash at Nero.

After a brief dance with Red Queen, the woman met the business end of Blue Rose. Nero sank two thorns deep into it's breast. The woman screamed and fell back. Nero was about to finish it off when both of the women leaped high into the air with a sudden jerk.

Nero craned his neck up, but the glowing women vanished into the whipping snow. A slight tremor lanced through the ground. Nero looked back down and saw a massive cave of jagged teeth with a fat tongue hurtling through the air. He lunged to the side, tucking and rolling to his feet as he hit the snow. Whatever it was slammed into the ground with a heavy thud.

"So..._this_ is what you really look like."

The thing that had attacked Nero was now wallowing out of the shallow hole it made in the snow. It was a massive toad, the size of a small house, with gray, putrid flesh. Atop its head sat a crown of sorts, made of glistening ice. It had a malformed tail, much like a tadpoles, that had a mace-like ball of ice. It's most bizarre feature was the set of anglers on its head; two long, slender antennae shot from it's forehead. On their tips were the two women, which Nero now recognized as rusalka. It glared at Nero with deep red eyes.

"**You're a lot stronger than you look, with a smart-ass mouth to match,**" it growled with it's wide mouth flapping as thick trails of green saliva spurted from the corners.

Nero shrugged. "Cut me some slack! I'm just not big on toads."

The thing's throat puffed up and out as it drew a large breath.

"**FOOOOL!!**" it screamed, bits of saliva splattering onto Nero. "**You think I care what you say?!**"

Disgusted, Nero tried to brush the gunk off of his coat. Devil Bringer seemed to shine brighter, protesting the disgusting assault. He flicked both arms, unsuccessfully clearing his body of the sappy liquid.

"If we don't finish this quickly, it's gonna scar me for life!"

The toad's throat puffed up and out again. It screamed even louder.

"**I WILL CRUSH YOU!!**"

A final bit of saliva dripped as it's mouth closed, pooling in between them. Nero sighed in disgust.

The toad shook it's body, flabby joints and skin shaking wildly. Some of the ice on its head broke loose. The pieces fell towards Nero like boulders. Red Queen in hand, he ran straight at the toad, weaving as the icy shrapnel rained from the sky. It was comically backing up, trying to put distance in between them, but Nero was moving far faster than it was. He ran straight up to its mouth, then raked Red Queen up in a high roller. She struck the demon's fat lower lip. The force of the blow jerked it up, almost off the ground. The toad landed on it's weaker front legs, chin collapsing into the ground. Nero seized the opportunity to deliver a few quick strikes to it's forehead.

Despite his blows, the toad's thick skin showed very little damage, nor did it react to the strikes. It smashed it's tail into the ground, using it's muscular hind legs to vault into the air and away from Nero. Before Nero could close the gap between them, it took another deep breath, throat expanding. It let out a roar, mixed with jagged ice fragments. Nero quickly changed direction, avoiding the deadly shards as they ripped past.

"**You bastard!**" it roared as it shook it's body again.

Nero danced back and forth as the ice rain fell on him again, wincing as several smaller bits rebounded off his skull and body. The toad hunkered down, coiling it's massive hind legs, then leaped for Nero, mouth wide open. He rolled out of the way, though not as quickly as the first time. The concussion from the toad landing felt ten times as strong.

Nero stumbled in the thick snow, but brought Red Queen down in a barrage of slashes against the toad's side. Once again, the thick skin held against her bite, even when she was bathed in fire. The toad bounded into the air again, landing on the other side of the courtyard. It's throat expanded, growing even larger than the first time. Nero prepared himself to dodge the onslaught of ice.

Instead, when the toad released its breath, only air came out. Hot, putrid air. The ferocity of it almost blinded Nero. He threw up his hands to cover his face. As he did, he saw the edges of the toad begin to shimmer, then disappear. When he lowered his arms, the toad had vanished completely.

_How the hell can something that big just disappear?_

He whirled back and forth, but the toad remained elusive. Instead of hearing its fat body, he heard the tantalizing laughter. Both of the rusalka descended from the sky, on either side of him. Their thick strands of hair became blades, and they began to dance and twirl. Nero tried to dodge the blades, but several nicked his bare arm.

He fought back with Red Queen, but the two demons were quick. They evaded the deadly bite from the sword, weaving in between her long swipe. Nero eventually landed a blow on one, a streak that nearly gutted it. It gave a shriek and collapsed to the ground.

Turning his attention to the other, he shuffled out of the way of a blade aimed at his throat, then stepped forward, razing Red Queen up at an angle. The strike was close, but not enough to kill. Instead one strand of the rusalka's hair went sailing, still formed into a blade. Nero pulled Red Queen back, ready to thrust her into the stunned rusalka.

-_shit, the other one-_

Nero left his back open for too long. The first rusalka had gotten back up. It floated to Nero, arms outstretched. Before he could cut it away, it embraced him, it's thick hair falling over him and legs coiling around his midsection.

Awkwardly, he tried to shove the cold demon's body off, but not before it planted a revolting kiss on his lips. Instantly, a spiderweb of ice began to cover his body. The rusalka broke away, then danced into the sky with it's sister.

Nero struggled furiously in his ice bindings. It wasn't strong; in fact, most of it had already broken away. The rusalka's intention wasn't to completely stop him, only to slow him. Already, he could see the bright red eyes materialize from the snow. The toad's wide mouth opened out of nowhere, hulking low to the ground.

_To slow, not gonna make it!_

Nero's right leg broke free from the ice. All that was left stuck was his other leg. The toad leaped, coming into full view. He twisted his leg, a sharp pain lancing up his thigh, and the ice broke away. He threw himself back, expecting to feel the jaws rip him in half. Instead, he felt a cold flurry of snow explode from under him as the toad's mouth closed a foot behind him.

_Alright, enough of this crap!_

The toad pulled his face from the snow. Nero dove at it, leaping up and driving Devil Bringer towards the space between his eyes. The demonic limb socked a hard punch through it's skull, causing the toad's eyes to cross from the blow. Nero landed in front of its hulking mouth, then delivered a powerful high roller to its lip again. This time, Red Queen almost turned the behemoth on its back. It fell to the side.

Nero reached out with Devil Bringer, snatching it's spiky iced tail. He jerked it upward, yanking the toad high into the air, then slammed it down into the ground. A large crater in the snow formed in the center of the courtyard, the very impact of the toad causing the pulled muscle in Nero's leg to protest. Before Nero could strike again, it belched out a gust of hot air and vanished.

The rusalki returned again. Before they had a chance to do anything, Nero extended Devil Bringer, it's massive claw encompassing one of the demon's lithe forms. He pulled back hard, feeling something like tension in a rope. With a surprised grunt, the toad was yanked back into view by it's antenna. Nero took hold of it's forehead with Devil Bringer, then slammed its snout into the ground into the ground.

The toad's legs collapsed from underneath him, its body sagging to the ground. The wide tongue rolled out over the teeth. Caught up in a frenzy, Nero grabbed the tongue, then pulled himself _into_ _the toad's mouth._ He unleashed Red Queen inside, slashing furiously at the soft inside, ignoring the nasty smell and texture of the toad's mouth and tongue. The toad could only gargle in pain as Red Queen brought on new meaning to indigestion.

With one final cut, Nero leaped straight up, cutting through the skull of the toad. He emerged into the freezing air, covered in slime and gunk. As he landed, the injured demon hurled a flailing rusalka at him. Nero caught the frantic creature by its ankle, then pulled again. The toad was lifted up into the air and slammed once again into the ground. Nero pulled again, whirling the rusalka around his head, dragging the toad around the courtyard in a wide circle.

Mercifully, the antenna snapped, sending the toad into a wall. Snow fell from the ledges as the wall almost buckled and collapsed. The rusalka Nero still held by the ankle gave a twitch, its life fading as it was severed from it's master. The toad sputtered, both in anger and pain as it tried to get off its back and onto its feet.

"**You think...you've...BEATEN ME?!**" it roared. "**NEVER! You piece...of...**"

Nero was only half listening and curiously watching the process taking place in his right arm. The rusalka he was holding simply melted away, the material flowing into the flesh of Devil Bringer. He felt a new strength surge through him.

"That's exactly what I think," he interrupted.

"**My brothers...will come! They-**"

The toad was interrupted by Nero again, who promptly drove Devil Bringer into it's forehead. The force of the blow launched the toad into the air, pinballing off the walls of the central courtyard until it came to rest in front of the gate, motionless.

Nero wrinkled his nose at the mucus caked on Devil Bringer. What looked like some of the toad's gray matter was speckled on the knuckles.

"C'mon...that's just nasty. Wait, did he say brothers?"

The ground began to shake, lightly at first, then violently. The Hell Gate was still open. Inside, in what looked like a corridor, a small army of identical toads were marching towards him.

"Oh that's fair," complained Nero, "Now I gotta fight a whole herd of these things?"

He had to move quickly. One toad was hard enough. He didn't want to fight two at the same time, let alone more than that. Using the dead toad as a springboard, he vaulted into the air, driving Devil Bringer into the eager mouth of the first one poking it's snout through the gate. The toad fell back into it's friends missing several teeth, causing a pile up of thrashing gray limbs.

Nero landed next to the gate. He saw something that resembled a button. He wasn't sure if it would close the gate, open it further, or cause the whole damn thing to explode. He pushed it anyway. Anything was better than a bunch of slimy toads.

With a flash of light, the Hell Gate sealed, becoming solid rock once more.

"Sorry pal. We're closed."

* * *

**Author's Note: Let me go on record and say that I HATE Bael. I realize that I don't refer to him by name, because it's not revealed in game. And I don't think that Bael would be smart enough to provoke a conversation with Nero where he introduced himself. Maybe I'll work something out with Echidna, because she seems to be more intelligent. This chapter was also a little shorter, because I didn't do the whole gyro blade thing, which is mostly what this mission is. The other chapters are a bit too long, so I figure this would be a good break.**


	6. Trisagion

**Chapter 5: Trisagion**

After a few minutes, Nero gave up on trying to wipe off the toad's disgusting gunk. It began to solidify, like drying mucus. He would give it some time, then see if he could pick it off like a scab. Since he'd killed it, the snow had stopped, and the moon peeked out from the parting clouds.

The toad's body still lay in front of the gate. There wasn't anything Nero could do about it, so he just left it there. The Order would have a hell of a time cleaning it up, but the hell if he cared. The gates just became a higher priority on his list. This was twice that he'd seen one open, and the first one ended up destroying a small village. Nero had managed to keep the damage to a minimum in the courtyard; the only sign of battle were some cracked walls where the toad had been smashed into. If the battle had gotten out of hand, they probably could have leveled a quarter of the castle.

_Should've told Gloria about the gate in Ferrum Hills right away. Too busy staring at her damn ass to even think about it. But then again, maybe she already knew. It's out of my hands now. I just have to hope that I'll get lucky and bump into someone from the Order again._

Nero trudged through the snow to the other door in the courtyard. It led to another one, but this one had been converted into a graveyard long ago. In a small section of the second courtyard, encircled by tall wrought iron fences, stood several rows of tombstones, about two dozen in all. This particular graveyard served as a burial site for Holy Knights long ago, back when the Order HQ was in the castle.

A faint rustle from behind caught Nero's attention as he took a few steps into the graveyard. There had been no wind. He whirled around, but saw nothing, only his footsteps left in the snow. The sound didn't repeat itself. In fact, the graveyard was totally silent.

_Must be my head or something._

Nero shrugged off the sound and took a step forward, his entire body suddenly turning cold. It wasn't the air that chilled him, rather, it was something from _inside_ of him, like he just swallowed a jug of ice. He looked down, shocked to see a red beak with glowing blue eyes protruding from his stomach. The thing pulled out, black material trailing from it, then curled to stare Nero down with its hollow, skull-like eyes.

Nero swiped for the tiny bird-looking skull with his hand, anything to get rid of it. The demon pulled back, a long shimmery black cloak pulling out of Nero's gut after it. The cold he felt vanished, leaving no trace of a wound. It just seemed to phase through him. The demon hovered in the air, then darted back when Nero approached closer. Instead of floating over one of the fences, it simply melted through.

Another one joined it, simply materializing out of the ground between two tombstones. They were both identical; a red skull with a hooked beak, blazing blue eyes, and what looked like spiny feathers atop their skulls. The cloaks that draped low beneath the skulls wavered and fluttered in the air. The material seemed to be more liquid than solid. Every so often, Nero would catch a glimpse of the body beneath it: red, scaly bones segmented like a crab or a bug.

The ominous black cloak struck a chord in Nero's head, rather it was something that he'd heard from Kyrie in one of her songs. The demon that wore all black, Mephistopheles, that stole the souls of man. The it was supposed to look human, Nero thought that the two hovering demons suited the description a lot better, especially the bizarre cloaks they wore.

_Mephisto it is then. Good enough for me. If it's got a name then it's easier to kill!_

Nero revved Red Queen, then sprinted at the fence, cutting a hole through the bars in a single swipe. He jumped at the first mephisto, which was hovering near the branches of the single scraggly tree that served as decor. Red Queen sliced easily through the fabric, too easily. The bottom of the black cloak severed, then melted away. The demon hissed, then raised a talon from underneath its cloak. The claw extended, almost as fast as a bullet.

Fortunately, the talon struck the flat side of Red Queen. Nero dropped back to the ground, then jumped up and swung her again, cleaving off another piece of the cloak. The second mephisto joined the brawl, lancing its talon at Nero. Pretty soon, they had him dancing back across the graves, weaving in between their spears. No matter how many times he cut away a piece of them, the cloak simply regenerated. Even Blue Rose's bullets did nothing.

_Oh, duh! The cloak isn't part of their bodies!_

One darted back, then lunged at Nero. He caught a glimpse of a scorpion tail beneath the cloak, ready to rend him. He shuffled back, the streaked Red Queen across its path, striking just beneath the demon's skull. It gave brief, garbled scream, then the cloak melted away, revealing its spiny body as it fell headless, the stumps spurting out a thick yellow blood.

The other one swooped low to the ground, its cloak beginning to spin rapidly. The ends became fine and sharp like a saw. It tilted its body, hurtling towards Nero not unlike the gyro blade did in the art gallery.

He vaulted over the dark tornado, then reached down with Devil Bringer as it passed underneath him. The demonic projection encompassed the demon's entire upper body. When Nero retracted it, the mephisto's red body was ripped from the cloak. He wound up and pitched it to the ground below.

Nero opened up Red Queen's throttle, then aimed her tip down on the stunned insectoid. She easily cracked through its carapace, burying herself almost up to the hilt. Nero didn't even hear the thing die over the roar of Queen's exceed.

"Double down!" Nero muttered, then wrenched her from the motionless body, shaking off the green-yellow gunk coating the blade.

He'd only managed to trash a quarter of the graveyard. Nero headed towards a set of stairs leading to south wall. If memory served, the master's quarters were at the top. From there, he would be able to get back into the castle and finally resume his search for the assassin.

It turned out that his memory was indeed correct. Nero now stood in the extravagant personal quarters of the master of the castle. Of course, no one actually held the title of master for about a hundred years, but that didn't prevent someone from building a fire in the fireplace. It was still fresh.

_Okay, there's no way that this guy would stop to bunk down and build a fire. There _has_ to be someone else living here. But this whole place is off limits._

Nero just didn't know enough to conjure up any answers. It could be anyone. Order lackeys, stray drifters, or a couple of punks. He pushed on, through the only other door in the room. Apparently, the guy who had this place built was a little twisted; the master's room opened onto the second level of the torture chamber.

It took him another few hours to comb the rest of the massive castle. When he was done, Nero went back and checked the rest of the places he'd already searched. Still no sign of the assassin. Eventually, he ended back up in the castle's grand hall.

"Shit," he swore, kicking a pew in frustration.

He was pissed because he hadn't found the assassin. He was pissed because he was going to have to put up with an angry Credo. He was pissed because the intel was wrong. He was pissed because he had to kick not one, but two major demon asses just to get here. And all of that got him nowhere.

Two demons attacked him while he was still fuming. Big mistake. The frost duo that assaulted him quickly discovered that a pissed off, frustrated Nero was something that shouldn't be messed with. The resulting battle smashed half the pews in the ancient hall, as well as an intricate stone coffin that was set up in a mock funeral. Eventually, Nero ended up on top of the large candelabra above the hall with the last frost. As Red Queen passed cleanly through the demon's midsection, he didn't happen to notice that she sliced through the wooden support beam that held it to the ceiling.

The candelabra fell, the chains that steadied it still connected. Nero hopped off of it as it swung like a massive pendulum, the chains guiding it towards the northern wall, directly at the massive painting of old man Sanctus. With a terrific crash, the sturdy wooden object slammed into the wall with a billowing cloud of dust and debris.

_Greeaaat...just one more thing for Credo to bitch about._

The candelabra had demolished the lower half of the painting. The old man was missing everything from the shoulders down. Nero shook his head in exasperation, then stopped abruptly.

The painting wasn't the only thing damaged. A small section of the north wall had caved in. Behind it in the settling dust, Nero spotted a passage. He was positive that he searched all of the hidden rooms and passages in the castle, but he had no memory of one off of the grand hall. He hopped up to the second floor balcony to inspect it closer.

Sure enough, it was a hidden passage, extending a few meters further north, then turning back into a staircase that led down. At the bottom was a small channel of running water; part of the castle's sewer system. Next to the channel was a door.

Curiosity turned to surprise. In the distance that it took Nero to cross the threshold, the walls around him seemed different. No longer were they made of mortar and brick. Instead, they were made from poured concrete. Several pipes ran along the ceiling. As far as he knew, the castle was wired for electricity, but that was it. Nero didn't know shit about plumbing, but he recognized several different pipes for gas and water. The floor alternated between concrete and metal grating, which reveled more pipes and wires in the floor.

_Just what the hell is going on here?_

* * *

_**Several hours earlier...**_

Credo stood in the Order's ascension chamber, in the bowels of headquarters, head bowed in meditation. His legs ached slightly; he hadn't sat down for about 12 hours. He blocked that out of his mind. If he said he was going to stay by His Holiness until he awoke, he would do just that.

_Still...it's taking longer than it should...Then again, it must have to contend with his wound._

The ascension chamber was a fairly large room, though mostly empty. It was built like a massive cube, even length walls, floor, and ceiling. The floor was covered by a plush purple weave, but the rest of the room was shining marble. In exact center of the room stood a raised dais, on which lay a curious object.

The object was built like a small four poster bed, except the "bed" was a solid stone slab, covered in marks and glyphs that Credo had no idea how to read. He did, however, feel the energy that radiated from it, just a tickle in his skin while in meditation.

The frail, elderly man that was His Holiness Sanctus now lay upon the plinth, still looking dead. The head wound inflicted by Dante's gun had slowly regenerated over the last few hours, the nickel sized hole in the middle of his forehead closing last. The large portion missing from the back of his skull took the longest to heal. After that, there had been no changes in his condition. There was no indication that he was alive, not even the rise and fall of his chest with breath.

_Cowardly, despicable way of fighting with guns._

His Holiness suddenly jerked, his back arching and eyes flying open. The whites of his corneas and the deep brown of his iris' pulsed a hateful red light. A low gargling sound emitted deep from his throat. He began to spasm, lightly at first, then violently as an epileptic tremor ran through his body. His hands clenched, his torso contorted, and his head whipped back and forth. The old, raised veins in his neck and face began to throb, filling with dark blood.

Credo was shaken from his meditation, suddenly unsure of how to proceed. Was this normal for the ascension process to be so violent? He remembered nothing of his, nor had he witnessed some of the others. He gripped his rapier sheathed at his belt with his left hand, his right reaching out uncertainly to try and hold his master from hurting himself. He held back though, as he did not know how his own energy would react if it interfered with His Holiness's. Even the most brilliant minds couldn't fully grasp the device.

As suddenly as it started, His Holiness's seizure ceased, and his body fell silent once again. His veins relaxed, his body settling into the etched stone. His glowing eyes slowly dimmed, but closed before the red light vanished. Credo's blood ran cold; he couldn't tell if his master was breathing or not. His mouth turned into a thin line of concern. Did the ceremony fail?

Slowly, mercifully, His Holiness's eyes opened, then blinked hazily. Credo could see the rise and fall of his chest. He let out a sigh of relief. "You have awakened."

Perhaps it was his imagination, but Credo thought he saw a smile pass over his master's lips. "Credo..."

Credo straightened his shoulders respectfully.

"My men are currently in pursuit of Dante," he reported. "It is only a matter of time before his location is revealed."

His Holiness let out a gravelly sigh, looking dazed. "He came to us..." he realized weakly, then sighed again. "It was fortunate that I was able to participate in the ascension ceremony."

Credo was about to continue his report when another voice spoke behind him. He'd heard the owner enter, but did nothing to acknowledge him. It was Agnus, the Order's lead researcher.

"Ahhh!" the other man exclaimed, eyes widening behind the single monocle he wore. "His Holiness! You look...magnificent!"

The thick, toad-like man took a step closer to the plinth, but Credo calmly moved an inch to the left, blocking him with his shoulder. He heard Agnus growl softly in irritation. Credo didn't hide the fact that he despised the disgusting man. He may wear the white and gold of the Order of the Sword like his men, but Credo detested him all the same. Always constantly doing maniacal research like some hermit, always greasy and unkempt.

Agnus glared at Credo, half through a shock of filthy bangs and half through his monocle. "You sent that cocky kid Nero to find Dante?" he asked, not bothering to hide his own obvious distaste for Credo. He began to move around him, his stink permeating the air.

Without breaking face, Credo calmly adjusted position, resting a hand on the edge of the plinth, effectively blocking Agnus from disrespectfully examining His Holiness like some test subject.

"You question my command?"

"Yes!" Agnus cried, sputtering. He had been working to control his stutter, but now was failing as he became worked up. "What shall befall me s-s-s-s-should he stumble upon my research facility!?"

Credo's eyes narrowed, yet he still did not look at Agnus.

"Our priority is to capture Dante..." he said menacingly. He could give a damn about his research.

"Why you t-t-t-t-"

"Credo?" His Holiness inquired softly.

"Yes, Your Holiness?" replied loudly, cutting of Agnus' stuttering. He fell silent, fuming.

"Gather everyone," he said, still sounding dreadfully weak. "I must...ease their minds on this matter."

"Of course," he accepted softly, bowing gently.

He turned to leave, finally granting Agnus a look; a poisonous one at that. The shorter man snarled back. Credo didn't give him the honor of a response. He merely strolled out of the room, stroking his pointed goatee, feeling a lot better about the recent events.


	7. Resurrection

**Chapter 6: Resurrection**

Nero continued to explore the hidden basement he found. Unlike the castle, it wasn't too hard to navigate. Basically, there was only one path to take. It led to a large staircase, which took him even lower into the earth. Spanning like a spiral, it circled down. Like the hallway before, it was veined by pipes and wires far to high tech to have anything to do with the castle above. There was only one door at the bottom.

The large, round, tubular tunnel was closed off by a thick metal door, much to Nero's dismay. Not wanting to give up so easily, he ran and kicked at it, hearing only a solid metal thunk. He flipped and landed on his feet. The door was pure metal, and there was no way he was going to get through it, not even with his equipment.

"Dammit!" he swore, then began to storm back the way he came.

He stopped when he heard that familiar sound of metal on metal, the kind made when two swords collided. He stopped, then looked behind him. The door was collapsing into five different parts. From between the pieces, three separate dorsal fins were gliding through the ground. The entire pipe was made of metal, but that didn't even slow down the fins. They looked like they were thin blades gliding through water, but were patched with glowing red flesh.

The three fins began to circle around him. Nero reached up and gave Red Queen's throttle a few tweaks. It seemed that even this place had an infestation.

The fins scattered as Nero lunged for one. They were quick. As soon as they scattered, one doubled back, then disappeared. Something burst out of the ground in front of him, arcing into the air. It was the owner of the fin, some kind of demonic fish. It had a sleek, aerodynamic body, with four clawed flippers and a pointy tail. It's bullet-like snout was aimed at Nero, looking to pass through him like it did the ground.

He rolled to the side, the cutlass fin slicing through the air then into the ground again. A second cutlass demon swam to the top of the tunnel, then dove out from above Nero's head. Blue Rose was up in less than a second. Nero fired and two thorns slammed into the rounded head. It jerked in midair and hit the ground flopping. He buried two more rounds into it for good measure.

Another one hurtled towards him in a burst of speed, looking to slice his legs with its curved blade. Nero shuffled to side, then brought Red Queen down on the fin. It quivered, but only slowed. He brought it down again and again, working off of the rebound as he pummeled the demon. Its body held just as well as a regular blade. With a grunt of effort, he thrusted her blade into the ground, hearing a squeal of pain. He wrenched her back up, forcibly pulling the demon out of the ground. Once it was helpless above the floor, he took hold of it with Devil Bringer, then leaped into the air, whirling it around a few times before slamming it into the ground.

The remaining cutlass demon tried to come up from below Nero. He flipped back and up, traveling with it. He let out with three quick slashes, the third of which spliced the demon down the middle. It fell spurting blood from its partially severed body.

Nothing else attacked him in the tunnel. It turned once, then ended in another door. It lead to a mainly empty room. With the exception of some colorful circles on the floor, Nero didn't see anything of any purpose or interest. There was a single door in the northern wall. Nero passed through it.

He was in some kind of viewing room that was dimly lit by a few naked bulbs. It was circular, with a large thick window set a few feet above the ground. A video monitor was embedded in the wall near it. All around the room hung ancient Order gladii, the thick, over-sized weapons that were discontinued decades ago.

There was nothing of merit inside the room. The only noise he heard was a rhythmic pulsing echoing from further inside the complex. Nero was just about to turn back when Devil Bringer interjected, glowing brighter and tingling. It seemed to be drawing his attention to the window.

On the other side, Nero could just make out a soft blue glow from the angle he was standing. It was some kind of device, dropping a pale blue curtain of light. Inside the light, held by some type of containment field, was the most beautiful sword Nero had ever laid eyes on. A pity is was broken in two.

It was a katana, with a spotless, mirror shine blade, broken in half at the middle. Its white, cord wrapped handle was perfectly woven, like a serpent's scales, with a golden hilt to crown it. The two sword halves lazily circled each other, almost longingly wishing to be rejoined.

Nero couldn't explain it, but Devil Bringer felt drawn to the sword. He could feel a desperate thirst creeping from it into himself. A thirst for power.

Movement jolted Nero from his attention to the sword. A figure had walked into view. It was a short, dumpy man with greasy, dark skin. His shaggy hair was pulled into a loose ponytail, but some bangs still dangled over his right eye. His thick lips pulled into a thin line as he glared at Nero through a monocle. He wore the white and gold of the Order of the Sword, but Nero had never seen him before.

"So...you've come," the man said, his voice dripping with disgust over an intercom. "Just as I'd expected."

"Huh," Nero grunted. So, the guy knew him. "Who the hell are you?"

The man spread his arms in grandeur. "I, am Agnus. Working in secrecy, few are p-p-p-privy, to my existence."

Nero stifled a laugh and turned from the window to hide his reaction. Judging by his halts and stutter, this guy wasn't a friend with words.

"Funny," Nero remarked lightly, "to figure an Order official out for a stroll in a hellhole kinda place like this-"

"_Hellhole?!_" Agnus screeched, pointing an threatening finger at Nero. "Watch your words!" Nero wasn't impressed.

"Just as, _foul-mouthed_, as I had heard...the rumors prove true. As will the new ones concerning your d-d-d-demise..."

"Don't you think that's a little harsh?" Nero asked. "Killing me because of the way I t-t-t-t-talk?"

Agnus grunted. "Hmph." He raised his hand, gesturing with a pencil he'd been using to scratch in a notebook.

A rattling began to fill the room. From out of various slots in the wall, more gladii began to pour into the room. As they entered, their shapes shifted, blades unfolding into wings. Their hilts opened into tiny, screaming beaks. Apparently, they weren't really swords after all.

"Great..." Nero breathed, taking hold of Red Queen's weighted handle, "More demons."

They began to swoop down on Nero, their wings outstretched. Nero jumped over one, then ducked another, parried a third, then side-stepped another. They were everywhere. He could barely stop to counterattack. Not like it mattered anyway; the demons just flew by again and again. Over the constant banter of steel on steel and rustling wind, Nero heard Agnus again.

"This...this is all Credo's doing. It was Credo who ordered you to follow Dante...It was Credo who brought you here!"

The flying gladii tangled enough to spare Nero a break in defense. Credo had ordered him to follow the assassin. Dante? The assassin's name was Dante? Credo knew this and didn't tell him?

"Dante?" Nero barked over the clatter of living blades. "You mean the guy who killed His Holiness? What the hell is going on here?!"

"I don't have to answer to you," Agnus snarled, scribbling a few notes in his pad. "For you are already as good as d-d-d-dead..."

Nero bared his teeth. The hell if he was going to let some greaseball he'd never met try and kill him.

"I beg to differ," he hissed.

The demons began another assault. Nero was forced into the crazy dance of dodging their swoops. Red Queen swerved around him in an effort to stay the relentless punishment. Already his stamina was beginning to wane. Nero was in excellent shape, but the constant night of fighting was beginning to drain him.

_I gotta think of something quick, or else this bastard's going to be laughing even harder._

Agnus was already busting a lung on the other side of the glass. Nero spared a moment to draw Blue Rose, then fired on the glass. The thorns didn't leave even so much as a scratch, and only acted to intensify Agnus's insane laughter.

Some of the demonic swords began to change shape. They reverted back into a gladius. By some unknown propulsion, the launched at Nero. Some flew like spears, embedding themselves in the wall. Others spun like propellers, trying to slice him a new one.

_Blue Rose can't break that glass, I need something heavier!_

Something heavier...Nero spun and reached out with Devil Bringer. The projected hand grabbed the handle of a gladius buried in the wall, then yanked it free. He hurled it at the window. It rebounded off with a thunderous clatter. Agnus gave a small yelp, but the glass held. That didn't stop Nero from grabbing another gladius out the air, then chucking it like a spear. Like before, it rebounded off, but this time, he spied a small spiderweb of a crack in the glass.

He grabbed another, hurled it, then another, then another. It wasn't until the sixth gladius that the window began to crack noticeably. The seventh actually cracked through the glass, sticking into, as did the eighth. By now, Agnus saw the threat and flipped a switch. Nero heard the hum of electricity. He didn't know what was coming, but he didn't want to stick around and find out. He grabbed one last gladius, then launched it spinning into the glass. The window shattered, sending Agnus sprawling to the ground.

Nero leaped up into the observation room just as a bolt of electricity shot through the room, incinerating the last of the gladii in a bright yellow flash.

Agnus now had to contend with a very angry Nero with Red Queen resting on his shoulder. He noticed the blue glow of Devil Bringer, then pointed in surprise.

"Th-th-th-that's demonic power!" he cried, his eyes wild behind his bangs and monocle as he scuttled back on his hands. "How can it be...?"

"Look who's talkin', jackass," Nero snarled. "Answer my question: what the hell is going on here?" He brought Red Queen's point around to his chin. Agnus let out a comical shriek.

Just as quickly as the fear entered him, it left when he took a closer look at Devil Bringer. Instead of pulling back further, he drew closer to Nero, almost crooning at it.

"How..._profound!_ It's...magnificent!"

Nero backed away in disgust, Red Queen falling away from the scientist's throat. The mere presence of Agnus was disgusting. Beside them, the broken katana floated silently, witnessing the conversation.

"Okay..." he said slowly, thoroughly confused. "Did you even hear me?"

Nero swung Red Queen lightly, about to take a piece out of his shoulder to get his attention. With a surprising amount of speed, he caught Red Queen in the thick black gloves of his hand.

"If it you want answers," he said softly, "then I shall give them to you."

He released Queen, and Nero took a few voluntary steps back. Agnus scuttled forward again, still mesmerized by Devil Bringer. Nero kept the distance between them by placing the point of Red Queen into the ground in a casual rider's stance.

"It has only been a few years since I began this research," he began quickly, no trace of a stutter. "Could we...isolate and bind demonic power? It could enable us to conquer the world! And that, _that,_ is the wish of His Holiness!"

Nero couldn't believe this crap. There was no way the Order could do something like this. Worship a demon, yeah, but world domination? Even that went against the teachings of Sparda. But then again, he had heard of some strange tasks the Order was issuing, like the round up of demons and collection of Devil Arms, all of which were banned. Where they being used for experimentation?

But never in a million years would someone like the old man work for something like this! Neither would Credo. He might always act like he had a stick up his ass, but Credo never struck Nero as the type to go on a power trip.

There were two options: Agnus was telling the truth, and the Order was truly no better than the demons they slew, or that Agnus was just some crazy ex-Order official.

_...a psycho hermit wouldn't have access to this type of equipment. And if he has a bunch of demons captive, the Order wouldn't just look by. Oh man..._

The grim truth sank into Nero: Agnus wouldn't feed him this type of garbage to save his life. The Order was corrupt. He couldn't believe it.

"What a crock," he snarled, "and you may as well ditch the efforts pal, because His Holiness is dead."

Agnus grinned at the news, his eyes flashing with excitement.

"Ahh, but his Holiness has been reborn...as an angel!"

"An angel..." Nero said, exasperated

"And soon...so, shall, I!" Agnus pronounced dramatically, bowing gracefully.

Nero shook his head in annoyance. This guy sure was weird. He looked back up, grinning again, only this time, it wasn't an excited one. It was cold and confident. The eyes that shone with the excitement of explaining his research burned with an intense hatred.

It happened so fast that Nero didn't even feel the pain at first. He turned, then there was a blur of white. Something metal slammed into him, driving him off the floor and into the wall. A pain like nothing else rocked through his body, originating from his gut. It was a knight, like the ones he fought in the library. Its lance was buried up to the hilt in his stomach, impaling him to the wall.

The pain intensified as the knight pulled his lance out of Nero, a small river a blood coming with it. Before Nero could hit the floor, two more knights rammed him, pinning their lances beneath Nero's arms, crucifying him on the wall of the room.

Steam from burst pipes seared his skin. He choked and blacked out, then stumbled back into consciousness. The front of his pants were already soaked with blood from his wound. It was a wonder his inner organs didn't spill out onto the floor. He heaved for air, each breath taking more and more life away.

"You see what only a small fraction of my research has yielded? Look!"

Nero could hardly see through the pain, but he could make out four shapes: Agnus, and the three knights hovering above him on glowing wings.

"How beautiful this white armor stands! You have no idea the hardship to make just...one armor come to life! I had to capture and control countless demons to harness...their souls. Summoning them alone was almost an insurmountable task!"

Agnus just kept rambling on, pacing back and forth. Nero could barely make out what he was saying. Everything was beginning to turn fuzzy.

"Summoning...?" he gasped. "So it was you...who made the gate!"

Agnus turned to Nero, excited that he'd made the connection. "Yes, yes! The Hell Gate! I created it merely as a reference, in substitution, for the real gate, but after utilizing an extremely powerful Devil's Arm...it proved sufficient."

Nero wheezed out another breath. It was getting painful to even breathe.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked weakly.

Agnus's excited mood vanished again. He stretched out his hand. A gladius soared to it, folding into its bladed form. "You...should rest."

With those words, he plunged the thick sword into Nero's chest, just above the gaping lance wound. Nero jerked, blood erupting from his mouth, mangling his scream of pain as the sword annihilated his internal organs. The sword passed through, pinning him to the wall even further.

All Nero could do was hang while his body began to shut down. Thick streams of blood dribbled from his mouth onto the gladius and the floor below, as well from the gaping holes in his chest.

Agnus's voice dropped to a low, quivering growl. "Soon...you will be the next subject of my experimentation, so I can learn a little something from you...and, that, _arm_."

Somehow, Nero managed to lift his head.

"Never..."

There was no way in hell that was going to happen. Even though he was buried in pain, he managed to inhale sharply, snorting the gunk out of his nose and into his throat, then hawked a massive, blood colored loogie onto Agnus's cheek.

The scientist stood, stupefied at Nero's audacity. He let out a shuddering growl, then yanked the gladius from Nero, another river of blood flowing free. Nero contorted in his crucifixion, but no longer had the strength to scream.

"T-t-t-t-take...him...out..." Agnus breathed to the knights.

The knights' armor clanked as they shifted position, then preparing to dive for Nero. There was nothing he could do. He was going to die.

* * *

_"Kyrie, run!" screamed Nero. His rapier sliced into the demon, dropping it to the ground._

_Kyrie scrabbled to her feet over the root she had tripped over. She pushed through some bushes, her dress ripping on a thick branch. She let out a blood-curdling scream as another demon dropped from the canopy, blocking her path._

_"Kyrie! KYRIEEEE!!"_

Nero awoke with a start. The room seemed frozen, the three knights in mid-flight, Agnus walking away. The middle one had its blood stained lance trained on his face, its two partners flanking it. Behind them, the broken katana still floated in its field, unaffected by the sudden lapse in time.

_I'm not dead...?_

He was aware of his wounds. They didn't hurt, but he could feel the tears in his body. Nero slowly blinked, and when he opened his eyes, something slapped him across the face, hard enough to turn his head and shut his eyes.

"Stupid kid. Why do you refuse to gain power?"

Nero let out a hissing breath, but didn't bother to look back at the speaker. He could feel him standing right in front of him.

"Why?" he snarled back, "Because I don't feel like selling my soul to a demon's arm!"

The speaker gave a harsh laugh. "Foolishness. Might controls everything, and without strength, you can't _protect_ anything...let alone yourself."

_Protect..._

"Without strength...I can't...protect her..." he realized weakly.

"Especially if you're dead. I think you know what needs to be done. Take Yamato...take your power..."

Nero looked up, but the speaker had vanished. He saw only the broken sword, hovering seductively behind the knights.

_Yamato..._

The two halves of the sword touched, then seamlessly connected, completing the blade. A strange feeling began to rise in Nero. It felt like adrenaline, but somehow different, like an electricity that quickly spread through his body and limbs. It felt good.

It felt _very _good.

* * *

Agnus ignored the boy's screams for Credo's younger sister. In a second, his knights would silence the despicable boy for good. He'd almost miscalculated. The boy was more clever then he thought, but in the end, his cockiness was his end. Now, he was in control again. He could begin to examine the boy's right arm. It simply tingled with demonic energy.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a distorted growl behind him. Agnus turned, confused at the source of the noise.

_What!?_

A light blue aura surrounded Nero. Though his head was tucked down, Agnus could see that his eyes were open. They were glowing the brightest red he'd ever seen. It was the light of a demon. The boy's beautiful right limb was outstretched, the claw splayed to grasp something. The entire arm was shaking, as if a great strain was being placed on it.

The boy's growl intensified to a distorted scream. His eyes blazed even brighter, now staring hungrily at the center of the room. Spellbound, Agnus followed his gaze, stopping on Yamato. His eyes witnessed an impossible event: the two pieces of the broken sword became one. As soon as it mended itself, it flew out of its containment field, spinning wildly to Nero's right hand.

As soon as the handle touched the arm, a massive wave of energy emitted from the point of contact. The knights disintegrated in the blue haze. Agnus felt himself being lifted off his feet. Out of reflex, he ascended. His own pulse of energy fought the onslaught of the boy's.

Still, he was pushed back, spinning in the flux. He fell into the containment room, bouncing off one of the walls in a flurry of white feathers. The armored carapace of his ascended form softened the blow, but not by much.

_Such an incredible burst...but how!?_

The lab was obscured by a thick veil of dust, as well as a light curtain of the white feathers that covered his thorax and abdomen. All he could do was stutter in confusion, unsure of what happened or what was going to happen.

The dust began to settle, then the boy staggered into view. It seemed that he was set ablaze in a blue fire. His eyes still burned with that piercing red light. Both of his major wounds had simply closed; there was no trace of them. Blood still dripped from his mouth, which was contorted into a snarl.

Rising from the blue fire on his body was a remarkable scene. A humanoid shape, a demon in armor stood above and behind him, like a three dimensional shadow. It mimicked his moves as he staggered closer to the edge of the containment room. Agnus was infuriated when he saw Yamato, the sword he devoted months of research to, complete in his right hand.

"**But how!?**" he howeled, his large insect eyes bulging. "**Not even I could succeed in restoring it!**"

Nero didn't seem to listen. Instead, he spoke, his voice mixing with a deeper, sinister voice that seemed to pierce Agnus through his ascended form.

"_**From that day forth...my arm changed...and a voice echoed...**_" he growled. "_**'Power...give me more...power!'**_"

Agnus sputtered. "**What?**" What was he talking about?

"_**And if I become a demon...so be it...I will endure the exile...anything to protect her.**_"

Nero simply drew Yamato up in a swing. A bright arc sprang from the blade. Agnus froze. It headed straight for him. The blade of energy sang past, inches from his shoulder, then ricocheted off the floor and into the wall. He covered his head as an explosion rang out, showering him in steel and rock. Gibbering, he turned and saw that the blow had cut clean through the roof; several feet of reinforced steel simply gone.

Agnus had made enough observations for one day. The boy was looking at him with murder in his eyes. Of all the demons he'd seen and cataloged, nothing could hold against the presence he felt.

"**This is preposterous!**" he shouted, then added as an afterthought, "_**Preposterous!**_"

He spread his glossy insect wings, a light powder spilling from them as they began to buzz, then took to the air and zipped out through the hole in the ceiling, leaving the abomination the boy had become behind him.

* * *

Whatever Agnus had become disappeared, though Nero was far from caring. He was running on the biggest high he'd ever felt. It was out of this world! He felt no pain, no fear, and was ready to take on the devil himself.

Yamato shivered, then faded away in a bright light, absorbed into Devil Bringer. Nero fell to his knees, surprised. He grasped his chest, expecting to feel fresh blood running from his chest, but instead felt torn cloth and skin. The mortal wounds inflicted upon him seconds ago had healed, becoming a distant memory.

He looked at Devil Bringer, which glowed its steady blue. It almost seem to be saying "see? I told you so." He began to laugh in disbelief at his own thoughts and situation. The power trip he'd experienced was like nothing he'd ever imagine. It was better than anything he did when he was younger, better than sex.

_And zero crash!_

Well, that wasn't true, he was a little winded, but that was nothing in comparison to what he just felt.

"I should get back to headquarters," he said to himself, his voice shaking a bit at first. "If what Agnus said is true...Credo must've known something."

He was going to get to the bottom of this, even if he had to beat it out of Credo.

* * *

**Author's Note: So a lot happens in this chapter. So what's the extra scene with the unknown speaker? Well, there's a lot of debate of the relationship with Nero and Yamato. Fans of Devil May Cry might recognize what the speaker says from a previous game. Its just a theory, and I decided to throw it in for content. And non-players of the game don't worry, what happens in Agnus's section will be more or less explained later on. Thank you to all the readers who have made this my fastest read story to date!**


	8. The SheViper

**Chapter 7: The She-Viper**

The series of dams above the Foris Falls slid down, lowering into the murky water. In a few seconds, the cascading water began to slow, until it only dribbled weakly over the rock face, then not at all. The might of the river was redirected towards a different path, the once deafening roar of the falls now gone. A small cave in the cliffs underneath the fall sat like an eye. Slowly, from the lip of the cave, a bridge extended to meet a balcony of Fortuna Castle, connecting the path to Mitis Forest.

Nero stepped back from the controls of the dam and bridge, waiting for the walkway to fully extend. The demonic cold had no affect on him anymore, now that he had Yamato's power. He couldn't explain it, but somehow, he felt the sword's presence, even though Devil Bringer had absorbed it.

He'd had a few minutes to tinker with his new abilities. Though Yamato didn't physically exist in his hands, he could feel its power. He could turn it on and off at will. One minute, he felt normal, the next, that incredible high he'd felt in the laboratory. When he felt its power coursing through him, the knight familiar returned, hulking over him, miming his every move. Where he struck, a spiritual projection of Yamato in its hands struck in the same place a nanosecond later.

Yamato's power wasn't quite what he expected. He was certain that giving into it would turn him into a rabid animal, attacking anything that moved. Instead, what he felt was a calm, confident force that backed his moves without hesitation.

But what of Yamato's physical form? The katana was already a good looking blade. It went deeper than that, though. The sword seemed to hold a deadliness about it, like a serpent, coiled to strike with its fangs. The very crescent shape of the blade made it look just like that: a fang. There was even a snake carved into the golden hilt of it. At the same time, it held a confident ambiance to it, and an otherworldly beauty; like a babe in a long flowing dress.

Nero shook his head, grinning at his thoughts, then strode boldly across the bridge spanning the abyss. Light was beginning to peak over the mountains; dawn was approaching. Even after no sleep, Nero didn't feel tired.

As soon as he passed through the other end of the cave, Nero confirmed the time. The sun was low in the sky, bathing the entire side of the cliff in light. He squinted after the darkness of the cave, raising a hand to shield his eyes. It was strangely warm out, compared to the frigid cold he'd just passed through.

Mitis forest lay spread below him like a lush green carpet. It spread like a jungle, covering every outcropping of rock with its leafy hands. Nero knew from experience that the entire forest was dotted with old structures long into decomposing. It was no wonder that it was also called the Forest of Ruin. In the distance, on the horizon, the Order's headquarters winked at him, glimmering white in the early sun.

"Hrmmm..."

Nero spun at the noise, his left hand plunging into his coat for Blue Rose. He knew that voice. No one.

"What the hell is this?" said the half amused, half irritated voice, once again from behind.

Nero drew his revolver. It was the assassin, standing on the cliff with his arms gesturing in confusion. The assassin...Dante...merely shrugged, paying no attention to Nero.

"Must be the effect of the gate," he muttered to himself.

He turned to Nero, giving him a casual wave. "Sorry kid, this is going to have to wait."

With that, Dante simply leaned back, dropping off the cliff. Nero bolted to the edge of the cliff, shocked, then extended Blue Rose. The assassin was waving with both hands, becoming smaller and smaller until he was just a red and black speck on the green canopy, then gone.

Nero lowered his gun, his brow furrowed in anger. Dante talked like he knew all there was to know. But he did mention the gate. Which one was he talking about? The one in Ferrum Hills and the castle couldn't have anything to do with the forest on the other side of the mountain. Unless...

_Is there a third gate?_

Nero's brow furrowed further. "How much could he really know?"

* * *

Credo stood before the inner ranks of the Order, gathered around the meeting hall's large circular table. There were six chairs, but only five members: His Holiness, himself, Gloria, Richter, and Wallace. Agnus was absent.

"His Holiness's ascension has been completed," he announced. "Dante is somewhere on the island, though his exact whereabouts are currently unknown. We have reason to believe that he will target the headquarters next. I've dispatched Nero to capture him, though he has not been heard from since."

Credo paused. He hoped that Nero had not indeed found Agnus's research facility. If he did, he was probably dead. Though he wasn't trusted in the Order, he was still his adopted brother, and Kyrie was quite fond of him. Credo would never do anything to hurt his sister. But the Order came first, even it meant bringing sadness upon Kyrie.

"...and that's the situation so far," he finished, then sat back down. The other members knew what their goal was, so he had no need to elaborate.

His Holiness was about to continue the discussion when a loud bang caused everyone to jump. It was Agnus, throwing the door open.

"CREDO!" he screeched. "You knew it all along!"

Credo stood, angered by the man's behavior and the thick accusing finger he pointed at him "How dare you raise your voice in the presence of His Holiness!"

Agnus didn't seem to care about Credo's retort. "That _arrogant _kid possesses d-d-d-demonic power!"

Credo tried not to curl his lip in disgust as spittle flew from the enraged scientist's mouth. He was bad enough when he was calm, but now he was all riled up, making ridiculous comments.

"Absurd!" he barked.

"Absurd!?" Agnus screeched again. He let out a few angry, senseless stutters. "Don't play me a fool. Is he not _your_ subordinate?"

Credo didn't even bother looking at Agnus. He wasn't going to give his attention to a man who didn't deserve it. Infuriated, Agnus circled around him, trying to get into his field of vision. What he said next genuinely surprised him

"He resurrected Yamato!"

Credo kept his features neutral. Yamato? Wasn't that the sword that Agnus had been trying to reconstruct, the sword that overflowed with demonic energy?

_So he wasn't lying when he said Nero had demonic power...this isn't good._

Like himself, Agnus had ascended, possessing a wealth of power. Agnus should have been able to take Nero out with no problem, and yet he retreated, obviously infuriated and frustrated. Just what had happened to Nero?

"It's your fault," continued Agnus, "It's your responsibility! It-t-t-t-t-"

"Credo..." His Holiness interjected softly.

"Yes, Your Holiness?" he replied loudly. Agnus fell silent immediately.

"Can you apprehend this boy?"

Credo paused. He didn't want to confront Nero unless it was necessary. Now that he'd been in contact with Agnus, as well as seen the research facility, he might begin to suspect something, if not put it all together. At the same time, he didn't want to rope his family into the situation.

"If that is your wish..." he replied slowly, then more quickly, "Though who will then track Dante?"

"I will find Dante," offered a sleek feminine voice at the other end of the table.

It was Gloria, the newcomer. The woman sat, her body curved like a serpent's opposite of Credo. His eyes narrowed, then crossed his arms in contempt. She dressed like a common whore, selling her despicable body like produce on a market. How dare she present herself to His Holiness like that?

"You can guarantee his capture then?" His Holiness asked.

"Absolutely," she purred, then rose from her seat. She paused before turning, then curtsied graciously. "It's good to see His Holiness has recovered."

She left, the sway of her hips and legs corrupting the room with their lust. Credo couldn't keep his voice silent anymore.

"Is she reliable?" he growled to His Holiness once the sound of her heels faded.

"She once brought us the sword Sparda," he commented lightly, "and hastened the completion of our Savior."

"But she remains almost a stranger to us all," he protested.

"...which will only concern us should a situation arise," His Holiness said firmly. "As for her identity, I have already investigated." His master's tone changed abruptly, becoming brighter and more friendly. "Now Credo, find us Nero and Yamato and bring them back to me."

His Holiness squeezed his hand, then patted it comfortingly, like a father to a son. Credo paused for a minute, then shook the worries from his head. His master knew what was best. Everything was still going according to plan, despite this minor setback.

Credo bowed respectfully. "As you wish, Your Holiness."

He strode off with his hand on his rapier, feeling better about everything already. Nero was no match for him, regardless of what power he may have obtained. Credo still had divine power, the power of the Savior. As for Gloria, he was certain that she would fail in her task.

As he left the meeting room, he did not notice the cruel grin on Agnus's face, nor the smile on Sanctus's face when he whispered something into his ear.

* * *

Nero shoved open the doors to the ruined church. He'd come across bits of rubble since his climb down the valley, but this was the first whole building he'd found. Mitis Forest was a temperate forest, but had several jungle like plants in it. These plants had hungry roots that burrowed through the ground and through anything that might contend with their survival. The formal church was overrun in greenery.

Two twittering scarecrows were waiting for him when he entered. Nero paused, seeing more movement behind them. It was a creature that looked like a tangled ball of roots, but it had two legs. The creature pounced onto the back of one of the scarecrows, knocking it to the ground, then unraveled. The roots buried into the burlap flesh of the demon, revealing a plant within the twisted mass.

The bud unfolded into a sinister flower, spewing a cloud of spores into the air. Thicker roots untwisted, revealing organic blades that snicked through the air like scissors. The scarecrow got back up, seemingly unaware that it had turned into a demon plant chimera. A second creature leaped out of the shadows and latched onto the second scarecrow, transforming it.

Unimpressed, Nero smirked.

"Shall we dance?" he said, bowing and dipping his hand.

He lunged forward, bringing Red Queen around. He didn't expect the chimera's blades to be as fast as they were. The first one almost took his head off as it whipped around. He shuffled back, then struck. He hewed off a few stray roots, but they regenerated quickly. The scarecrow attacked, the slow sweep of its scythe laughable when compared to the whip of the root's tendrils. Nero easily stepped back to avoid it.

_Guess I gotta nip this in the bud..._

Nero pulled Blue Rose and fired a shot directly into the seed creature's flower. What looked like dirt shot from the exit holes. The seed's body quivered, then the flailing tentacles went slack. Nero jumped forward and cut into the scarecrow, the exceed system making short work of the demon. Both creatures fell in pieces.

Behind him, the chimera prepared to strike. Nero unleashed Yamato's strength and brought his weapon around in the blink of an eye. Red Queen and the familiar slashed into it, driving it up into the air. Nero jumped up after it, snatching it with Devil Bringer, then hurled it into the ground below. The impact of the demon shattered the leafy tile of the former church and flattened on contact. The tendrils gave a few brief twitches, then went still.

The fire faded from Nero, and he simply resumed his passage through the church. Headquarters was on the east side of the forest, built over the ocean cliffs. He could be there in an hour if he booked it.

There were some ancient walkways over the valley that shaved off some of his time. They were treacherous to cross, as the metal used to build them was near the point of disintegration. The passage it led to would take him straight through the cliffs and onto the forest's highlands. Nero didn't have a problem with it until a duo of mephistos decided to drop in on him. Once he properly disposed of them, taking part of the walkway with them, he was able to make his way to entrance in the cliffs.

As he worked upstream of the Lapis, the river that cut the forest in half, he began to notice something. Tucked in bushes and around trees were bizarre pods. They obviously weren't of the local flora, because they glowed with veins of light. Upon examination, Nero found that some of them were broken; hatched, like eggs.

_I wonder if this is where those seed demons came from?_

He saw more and more as he made his way up the river. Soon, he lost count. Something demonic was taking over the forest. Nero didn't know what, but he had a feeling that he'd know it when he saw it. As for the pods, he couldn't waste time smashing them all. The issue with the Order was far more pressing.

After about 20 minutes of following the river, Nero broke off and headed north, pushing through the forest. If he was right in his thinking, the ruined valley should be just ahead. The walkway there would point him to the last stretch to headquarters.

Sure enough, he found the door cut into the debris pile running along the valley. He entered through it, stepping onto the rickety metal walkway. The sun disappeared as a shadow abruptly passed over him. Nero looked up to see a huge green shaped hurtling towards him.

He dove forward as it crashed into the walkway, passing with ease through the metal weaving.

_Holy shit, is that a snake?_

What appeared to be indeed a giant snake, flying through the air, coiled up behind the twisted mass of metal where Nero had been standing. It was twice the length of a bus, and was unlike anything Nero had seen. It's mouth was divided into four segments, each rimmed with razor teeth. Beneath the dragon-like head was a mane of large leaves, as well as plant stigmas. It let out a hiss, a long forked tongue flitting out.

Nero bolted down the walkway. He couldn't fight something like that here. It was going to bring down the entire platform! Each time his foot hit the metal, it felt like the whole thing would collapse. Behind him, the serpent dove, taking out another segment of the path, then soared up, taking another.

Nero juiced more speed from Yamato, rounding the turns in the walkway at breakneck speed. The serpent was gaining on him, simply breaking through the metal. It soared right up behind him, jaws wide. It was denied its meal when it got stuck in the too small railings of the path. It thrashed, ripping the metal out from Nero's feet. He jumped to the next section before it fell.

_Almost there...almost there..._

Nero jumped off the last bit of walkway and rolled onto the solid rock of the exit to the valley. The serpent came up and ripped it off just as he cleared it, then coiled into the air and soared over the valley. Just like that, it was gone.

Panting lightly, Nero wiped his brow.

_I guess that's what was laying those pods._

So he had another demon running around. What else was new? If he was lucky, he'd bump into it on solid ground, then kick its ass. He pushed through the door and into the ruins of another structure. After he crossed them, he found himself in a clearing with another surprise.

_So, Dante was right._

There was another gate, already opened, on the far end of the clearing. It pulsed with a crack of deep green light.

A ferocious sound of moving earth and breaking branches. The serpent returned, breaking through the trees and gunning straight for Nero.

Unable to do anything else, he flexed his legs and jumped, then grabbed a hold of its scales with Devil Bringer, then went on the ride of this life. The serpent arced high into the sky before plummeting back to earth, into the trees of the forest. Branches ripped at Nero's face and body, threatening to jerk him off the crazy ride.

He got his legs straddled around its armor, then proceeded to fruitlessly pound away with Devil Bringer. For his efforts, he was rewarded with a tree branch to the face that swept him back, almost impaling him on the barbs of the serpent's mace-like tail. He caught himself before he was gutted, fed up with the demon ride from hell.

Yelling in anger, he bolted forward, sprinting along the tail towards the serpent's head. He vaulted over a low branch, then ducked under a high one. As he neared the head, he jumped off, rebounding off a tree back at it, Devil Bringer cocked back and ready to deliver the punch of a lifetime to its blunt nose.

Something bopped him in the head before he could strike, knocking him away like a bug. A woman's voice screeched through the air.

"**Try some seeds on for size!**"

Two scales shot from the serpents body, heading for Nero. He drew Blue Rose in mid-air and picked them off with two shots. Immediately, the woman's voice screamed in fury. Nero landed in the clearing with the gate, skidding from his momentum.

"**My children! You bastard!**"

The serpent's mouth opened wide, then folded back like a flower. From its gullet sprouted a woman's torso, clothed in an elegant looking set of leaves. Screaming again, the she-viper dove at Nero.

He jumped out of the way, landing casually on a moss covered arch.

"Sorry," he apologized, "but having one of you around is more than enough!"

"**Your insignificant insults have no effect on me,**" she screeched, "**...though I **_**will**_** tear your body to shreds!**"

_At least it's smarter than that damn toad._

The thing even had the manners to introduce herself: Echidna.

Nero rushed down to meet her, Red Queen already at her place in his left hand. Echidna floated coiled like a spring. She spun and whipped her tail across the ground. He jumped it, then continued his rush. He was almost in sword range when she retracted into her body. The dragon head returned, jaws ready. Nero was just able to roll out of the way, feeling her hot breath as she passed by.

Echidna swooped into the sky, then down at Nero, who promptly rolled out of the way again. She coiled around, coming around for another pass. Sick of her tactics, Nero let out with Blue Rose, aiming for the head. A few thorns must have hit a soft spot, because she suddenly veered, then popped back out from her body.

Before Nero could attack, she looped in the air, then shot tail first into the ground, burrowing up to her mane. Seeing her wide open, Nero charged. Echidna merely sat there, smiling wickedly, then shifted into a glamorous pose. The ground below him suddenly opened up. Thick tendrils shot from the ground.

_The barbs from her tail!_

The hooked spears that almost killed him on his wild ride were easily recognizable. The demon must have had the ability to extend them. Now, he was surrounded by them. They began to swat down, the dangerous barbs slicing all around him. Nero danced furiously to avoid them. From every direction they came; left, right, above, and all the angles in between, spinning and thrashing wildly. He was even more surprised when one shot out of the ground right below him. The barb's blade sliced clean through his shoulder. The wound healed almost instantly, thanks to Yamato. He barely even felt the pain.

Echidna hooted in wild laughter when her blow landed. Her tendrils kept Nero imprisoned in their deadly tango. Even if he tried to attack them directly, they were too thickly armored even for Red Queen's exceed. Dirt and dust from the ground began to rise, making the tendrils even harder to read. Every time he tried to escape, an attack blocked him.

Nero called upon Yamato. His body burned with the demonic energy. The speed of his movement increased. He saw a small opening in the attacks, then lunged forward, breaking free of the trap. He bolted straight for the now very surprised Echidna, roaring in a demonic growl. She began to burrow out of her nest, but not before Nero slashed. Red Queen bit clean through her chest and out her shoulder.

Echidna shrieked in agony and pulled away, coiling her long body once more. She screamed, both in anger and pain. A yellow light burst from her body, setting her ablaze. Her white eyes turned a flaming red.

The weather turned from clear and sunny to suddenly dark and ominous. Black clouds appeared from nowhere, and lightening began to flash. The she-viper seemed to control the very atmosphere of the forest.

Raised scales on her body glowed, then launched in rapid succession like an organic machine gun. Nero strafed and spun as they pelted all around him. She swiped her massive tale again, more scales flying. He cut through them in the air as he tried to work his way closer to her again.

The scales that hit the ground began to hatch like eggs. Seed demons began to crawl out of them. Nero swiped Red Queen across the air, drawing a burst of energy from Yamato. The knight familiar followed his swing, combining with Queen, releasing two blades of energy in a large X. The blow cut through most of the pods and demons, vaporizing them.

"**My children!**" Echidna screamed, then roared in fury.

The she-viper dove at full throttle. Nero threw caution to the wind as he jumped up to meet her. Devil Bringer projected itself, clasping onto her shoulder. He almost lost his grip when she thrashed about in the air. Managing to swing around, he planted himself firmly on her mane, then drove Red Queen into her gut.

Echidna shrieked in pain as the sword impaled her almost to its hilt, only to scream louder when Nero racked the exceed gauge, igniting the blade while it was still in her. She twisted and turned like a green ribbon caught in a tornado, Nero holding on to Queen with all his strength as she tore around the clearing.

Nero braced his feet against her, then yanked up and away, pulling Red Queen free and slicing at the same time. Echidna let out another shriek of agony as the blade ripped through her torso, then flew into the trees, disappearing from sight. Nero flipped and landed on his feet, scanning the tree line for movement. He couldn't see her, but he could hear her ripping apart the foliage as she writhed about.

He walked to the center of the clearing, directly in front of the gate, then crossed his arms. He knew she was going make a run for it, and he wasn't going to let her.

A cloud of dust exploded from the tree line, behind an ancient stone arch. Echidna hurtled through the arch, veering slightly to avoid Nero, making a B-line for the gate.

"Don't even _think_ about it!" Nero snarled, then turned and reached out with Devil Bringer.

He caught her by the tail. The she-viper jerked, stopping feet from the gate. She turned to see what grabbed her, spotting Nero with the massive projection of his demonic limb. Despite her efforts to pull harder, he held her fast.

"**How shameful to be beaten by a human!**" she wailed.

She barrel rolled, twisting free from Nero's grip, then flew into the gate. It shut behind her.

"Hey!" Nero yelled after her. "Don't step up if you're not going to put up a decent fight!"

He spied something that had fallen from her body in her flight to the gate. It looked like a cluster of fruit, with translucent red skin and veins that pulsed and bubbled. He picked it up and shook it at the closed Hell Gate.

"Didn't your mom ever tell you not to litter?"

His words were cut short when Devil Bringer glowed, then consumed the fruit in his hand. Like the rusalka, he felt a new strength course through his limbs. It wasn't even close to what Yamato gave him, but it still felt good all the same.

He sighed, shaking his head in exasperation as another demon managed to slip away from him.

* * *

**Author's Note: Another day, another demon. I really didn't want to come up with dialogue to introduce Echidna, but I didn't want to refer to her as "the snake" the entire time. So I just made her name known to the readers. What do you guys think of how I'm doing Yamato? I hope it's understandable. I don't think I did that good a job of explaining the whole devil trigger concept. If you're confused, I recommend watching something on youtube. Next up, my favorite fight in the whole game!**


	9. Profession of Faith

**Chapter 8: Profession of Faith**

"Shoot," Nero muttered. Something felt wrong again.

He hopped up on a rock and scanned the tree line. Nothing was out of the ordinary. He didn't sense any demonic presence, nor did anything attack him. Still, something just seemed off. He made his way to higher ground, then made a surprising discovery.

He was heading east towards headquarters for the last 15 minutes. So why, off in the distance, did it seem further away? Nero thought hard, then just shrugged it off as getting turned around. He oriented himself east, then began to walk again.

Half an hour later, he checked his bearings.

"What...the hell?"

He was even further away now than he was before. That settled it: something was wrong.

This had never happened before. He walked the forest to headquarters dozens of times, each time uneventful. Today was no different, albeit he had slain several dozen demons on the way. That was the only explanation. It had to be some kind of demonic illusion, maybe even brought on by the gate itself. Was this what Dante had sensed on the cliff?

Around him, the thick forest was ripped apart as something lunged through the air, slashing and whirling through the greenery. Another one flew out of a bush behind him. A third dropped from the canopy above. In a second, he was surrounded by three lizard-like creatures.

They hulked low to the ground, like a prowling tiger on all fours. Their gray pebbly flesh seemed to fit right in with the surroundings. All three wore bizarre helmets, adorned with feathers, as well as a buckler strapped to their right forearm. All four of their appendages were tipped with serrated claws.

One of them tipped its head back, a lean, muscular tale arching over its body, then let out a roar. It darted at Nero, claws outstretched, and swiped. He shuffled back and swung Red Queen in retaliation. Already, the second and third were descending upon him. One dove like a missile, the other darting forward like the first.

His blade caught only air. The demons were fast. He jumped aside as one tried to rend him, then swung back. One of the lizards blocked his strike clumsily with its buckler, then attacked. The claws wisped near his ear, almost brushing him lightly. Nero spun and raked his sword up. The demon jumped to avoid it, but Nero followed, booting it in the head, then unleashed an aerial combo; three strikes in mid-air.

The third strike slammed it to the forest floor, belly up. Nero flipped in the air, then brought Red Queen down, slicing the demon lengthwise. Its blood shot up, appearing as liquid briefly before it crystallized on the greenery.

He was steamrolled by another one before he could reposition. He felt the claws rip into the skin of his left arm. The pain was there, but only briefly as Yamato's power regenerated him. He spun as another lunged. He grabbed hold of its tail with Devil Bringer, then yanked it off its feet, swinging it around into the other one. It fell back against a tree trunk, screeching in pain from the blow, no doubt a few bones broken.

Still holding the tail of the lizard, Nero began to whip his arm around, bludgeoning it into the dirt again and again. With one mighty throw, he hurled the demon into the other.

"Get lost!" he yelled as he pulled Blue Rose and emptied the cylinders into them.

With all three dispatched, Nero was once again free to think about his problem. He had no idea what was causing the illusion, so he couldn't just take it out at the source. No, he had to beat it. There had to be something that would give away what was causing it. He scanned the forest around him; nothing out of the ordinary, the bodies of the assault lizards had already disintegrated. Just flora and fauna.

He shook his head, then positioned himself east again, walking slowly. He didn't want to miss something. After 10 minutes of walking in a straight line, nothing had changed. There was no subtle hint that he'd changed direction, or that something was messing with the surroundings. The sun was still fairly low in the sky, casting long shadows on everything it touched.

_Wait...the shadows..._

Nero was walking east, so why was his shadow, as well as everything else's in front of him? It should be behind him, because he was facing the sun. Only the sun was behind him now. Nero turned to look the way he came, not recognizing the path that he saw. It all suddenly made sense.

The forest was like a giant shifting maze. All he had to do was keep walking towards the sun. It should lead him east, towards headquarters. As long as he could notice the change in shadows, and it stayed sunny, he could make it.

Nero set out, keeping a careful eye on the surroundings. Every so often, he would notice an abrupt change in the direction of the shadows. Every time it did, he would change direction, keeping the sun in his face and his shadow to his back.

Finally after an hour, Nero came out of the forest onto a long forgotten structure. The path to headquarters was open. He could even see the Gran Album Bridge, the bridge that spanned a hundred meters out to sea and to headquarters.

After a brief skirmish with some chimera scarecrows and a few more assault lizards, Nero made his way to the bridge. The Gran Album Bridge was truly a feat of architecture. The long narrow bridge had high struts of Gothic design that shot high into the air at regular intervals. The bridge was so thin that only three people could walk abreast at one time, a technique used in olden days for defense. Below him, the sea thrashed at the wide columns that held the bridge aloft for hundreds of years.

At the end of the bridge was the Order of the Sword headquarters. Unlike the bridge, it was fairly unimpressive, just a massive rectangle of white marble, with a few windows dotting the front.

A long staircase rose from the end of the bridge to the front of headquarters. At the top was a wide circular platform, which acted basically as a doormat. Halfway across the plinth, Nero stopped abruptly. There was movement in the shadow of the entrance; someone was coming out to meet him.

It was Credo.

He mechanically strode across the stone, his shoulders back and his head up, like he always did. His eyes were cold slits, locking onto Nero's. Credo never did look nice, but he looked even worse than he did normally. In fact, he looked downright evil.

Nero flexed his had, grinding his teeth in thought.

"Heh," Nero remarked lightly, "that's a look you shoot your enemy."

Credo didn't respond, but merely walked up to Nero, his eyes still cold. Nero returned the favor.

"Okay...well let me ask you this. Just what is the Order after. And who the hell is Dante?"

Credo moved as if to brush past Nero. Suddenly, without warning, he drew his rapier.

"You do not _demand_ answers from me!" he yelled as he slammed the blade down at Nero.

The only reason Nero was able to stay in one piece was because he already suspected Credo might try something. Nero hopped back, the point of the rapier chipping into the stone were his feet had been. Credo followed up with a baseball swing, looking to take his head off.

Nero raised Devil Bringer, the blade rebounding off of it with a crack of energy. The sound rebounded off of the surroundings, mimicking a gunshot. Credo slid back, whipping his rapier up to stay balanced. Nero bristled, ready to fight.

Credo pointed with the tip of his rapier almost accusingly. "You possess the power of a demon..."

Habitually, Nero moved Devil Bringer behind his coat.

"Back down," he hissed back. "I don't want to hurt you. I won't do that to Kyrie!"

To his surprise, Credo grinned.

"'Hurt me'?" he asked incredulously. "You don't get it do you?"

He raised his arms, then let out a low growl. A soft, white gold light began to shine around him, growing brighter and brighter, until it was almost blinding. Nero wanted to look away, but knew he couldn't. He didn't want to believe it, but knew he had to. The light faded.

"You too...?" he whispered.

How Nero remembered Credo was no more. What hovered before him was no longer human. It resembled a cross between a person and an eagle; arms and legs that ended in talons, and a muscular torso covered in fine white feathers. A single wing extended from his right shoulder, feathers both gold and white. Swaying back and forth from his tail bone was a thin white tail.

A broken set of horns twisted in a thin halo protruded from an dark, expressionless face. Red eyes stared Nero down without blinking.

Credo's rapier had transformed as well, still sleek and deadly, but about ten times larger, bright gold in color. In his left hand he held what appeared to be another wing. He held it outstretched over his left shoulder, mismatched with the elegant white and gold on on his right. The feathers of it were dark blue, woven tightly, looking like granite. Nero didn't have to guess that it doubled as a shield.

"**I have been chosen to take the next step in evolution, to become something far more than just human!**" he cried with unmoving lips, his voice mixed with a demonic echo. "**I am an angel!**"

Nero shook his head slowly, his lips bared back in anger. "Wrong Credo...all you've become is a demon!"

"**As captain of the Holy Knights, you are now under arrest.**" Credo proclaimed, lifting his sword in a traditional en guard stance. "**It is the wish of His Holiness!**"

He settled to the stone in front of Nero, cocking his sword back and his shield forward. It glowed in a blue aura.

"**C'mon, show me what you got!**"

Nero launched himself, Red Queen off his back, exceed roaring. He slammed her down onto Credo's shield. She was almost ripped from his hands as he shoved against her, leaving him wide open and off balance. Credo swung his sword, first across, down, then jumped and slammed it down. Nero ducked, stepped, and rolled under all three strikes.

Nero struck with Red Queen a second time, only to connect with Credo's shield yet again. Credo struck back again, two quick strikes, then vaulted up into the air, twisting and swinging his blade outward. A shockwave burst from the blade, blowing Nero off his feet and skidding across the ground, a long line of stone shattered where the blast connected. He skated to his feet, sliding the last few feet to the edge of the plinth.

"**Is that it?**" Credo taunted.

Nero cracked his neck, then grinned. He didn't know why he felt so giddy. Maybe it was because he was fighting his brother, for once not limited to rules and points. Then he realized Yamato was pumping him full of power again, just like back at the castle. He was getting high. He shrugged off the blow, then straightened.

"Come on!" he yelled, beckoning with his hand.

In a blur of light, Credo was suddenly in front of him, bringing his rapier around. Nero weaved around the blows, then parried the next one. He knocked Credo's sword away, then slashed back, the tip of Red Queen slicing into the chest of his eagle body. Strange purple blood splashed along Queen's blade; Credo vented in pain. Nero followed up with Devil Bringer, sending the demonic arm up and into his gut, then pulling back for a punch.

Credo's shield took the brunt of the second blow, the blue aura flashing in a protesting orange. He sailed back in heap, then scrabbled to his talons.

"I suppose you were too scared to take Dante on yourself?" Nero yelled across the platform.

Credo swept his sword arm around, clearing his single wing with a flurry of golden feathers.

"**Ha! I had my reason to retreat. Now die, demon!**"

He propped his sword on the top of his shield. Nero recognized the hoplite stance, then stepped back, raising Red Queen in a similar stance. Credo was fighting like a knight: he was using a set of several combos, chaining them together to keep the enemy guessing. Whatever power that caused his transformation had given him incredible strength.

But Nero too was a Holy Knight. He was fighting the same way, and with Yamato's power, he too had new strength. They were on equal ground. Nero didn't dare to use Blue Rose. He was going to beat Credo sword to sword.

Once again, Credo became a blur, soaring towards him. Nero lunged forward and streaked. There blades clanked off each other, the stroke of the blow echoing up Nero's arm, making his teeth rattle. They sailed past each other, then turned and began to deliver volleys of strikes. Nero danced around Credo's, then returned his own. His brother preferred to either block the blows with his shield or parry them altogether.

After a series of exchanges, Credo jostled Nero with his shield, then shot back to the edge of the platform.

"**Behold the power of an angel!**" he cried, cocking his arm back.

In a burst of light, a long shaft formed, with a wicked spearhead on the tip. The entire thing was easily twelve feet long. In less than a second, it was fully formed. Credo let it fly. Nero tucked and rolled as it soared at him, feeling the turbulent stream of air it left behind. He rolled smoothly to his feet, only to find another spear leaving Credo's hand. He shifted the other way in a blur of speed from Yamato.

A third spear came at Nero. His reaction was a fraction of a moment: he reached up with Devil Bringer, snatching it around the shaft. He cocked his head to the side to avoid having it taken off by the spear. Devil Bringer screamed in effort as it worked to stop the projectile, succeeding just before the spear's momentum knocked him off balance. Nero spun the weapon around, then hurled the missile back at Credo.

Either he was not suspecting it, or he was too slow, but Credo took the spear in the gut. It blew all the way through him, stopping halfway up the handle. He fell back in a cry of pain, looking in shock at his own weapon piercing him.

"**What??**" he gasped, but then saw Nero gunning for him, his body alight in blue fire.

The lance dissolved and Credo spun to his feet, sending another blast wave towards Nero, the wound in his stomach already healed. Nero back flipped away from the arc, wincing as shrapnel speckled his brow. Credo followed up with a thrust, then another slashing combo, ending with a front flip accented with another downward slash.

The latter Nero caught with Red Queen, but he failed to see the shield coming as he worked to control his sword. It rammed him with the force of a small car. The resulting backhand slash from Credo's blade opened up a deep cut in Nero's torso. Almost oblivious to the pain, not to mention the blood loss, Nero launched into another combo, the knight familiar rising out of him and joining the barrage. He parried away Credo's sword, then landed a stroke across his shield, knocking it away briefly.

Nero lunged in close and punched with Devil Bringer, cracking him square in the face. Another blow and Credo was on his knees. Another, another, and another still, Credo was beaten back almost prone. Nero paused, panting hard, Yamato unable to provide both the strength to fight or to heal him at this rate.

Credo swayed slightly. "**That it?**" he contested weakly.

Nero yelled and swung as hard as he could, both Devil Bringer and the knight's fist uppercutting Credo off the ground and into the air, where he landed hard on his back.

"_**You're wrong, Credo...**_" breathed Nero. Wrong about everything. He was the demon here, not him.

Credo rolled to his feet, his still expressionless mask now tinted with large welts. He jumped into the air, suspended by his wing and shield.

"**Think you can dodge this?**"

Out of thin air, a line of golden swords appeared in a line before him. The shot forward by unknown propulsion in sets of two. Nero shot back and forth, trying to dodge the hail of blades. Each time the swords would hit the ground, they would shatter into pieces, creating more shrapnel that bit into his skin.

The line of swords expended, Credo summoned a new line, stretching vertically. The new set began its volley. Nero resumed his frantic weaving and running between the blades.

Credo prepared a third set, this time the blades prepping in a star around him. The swords vanished, then reappeared around Nero, points hovering menacingly. They began to shoot at him from all angles. Nero jumped into the air, twisting and spinning. A sword passed through his legs. Another under his arm. One slipped close to his face, slicing a thin line which closed instantly. In an instant, the cyclone was over. Nero even managed to land on his feet, just in time to see Credo flying towards him.

"**Do NOT underestimate me!**" he screamed as he tried to spear him.

Nero sensed Credo's frustration. He was proving to be a better match than he probably thought. Credo tried a new series of attacks, even doubling up on a shockwave burst. But Nero saw each strike before it landed. His brother was so focused he didn't notice he left himself wide open.

Devil Bringer once again connected with Credo's jaw, sending him high into the air. Nero jumped up after him, Red Queen arcing high over his shoulder. The knight appeared as well, Yamato clutched in his hands, point down. Simultaneously, Queen and Yamato drove into Credo's gut, slamming and impaling him down to the stone plinth. Nero roughly ripped out Red Queen, as did the knight with Yamato.

Credo now struggled to get back to his feet. "**I will not suffer defeat!**" he cried, then lunged forward, coming at Nero with the force of a train.

Nero caught his shield ram with Devil Bringer, not moving so much as an inch. Both men grunted in effort. Absently, the demonic arm opened its gullet and began to greedily feed off of the energy in Credo's shield. Nero adjusted his push, sending Credo stumbling past him to the ground. He looked at Devil Bringer curiously, then back at Credo, who was being surrounded in a golden aura again.

He half expected another attack, but instead saw Credo revert back to his former self.

"No!" he yelled. "Not yet! I'm not finished!"

With that, he swung his blade at Nero. With a simple block from Devil Bringer, he stopped it, then batted Credo away. His brother tumbled to the ground, losing his sword altogether with a clatter. He was visibly in pain, though there were no apparent wounds on his body.

"Your strength has increased," he remarked between pants and grunts.

Nero flexed Devil Bringer. His eyes were set. It was time to get some answers. He extended the claws of his right arm, feeling a faint bloodlust. He wanted Credo to pay for betraying him, for trying to kill him. How many people were suffering or going to suffer because of the Order?

Nero curved his claws, raising it upward-

-when a mangled shriek turned him around.

"Kyrie..."

* * *

Kyrie whimpered, her mind racing with confusion. What was happening? She heard the fighting, and went to go see if her brother was okay. When she stepped out into the entranceway, her heart almost stopped. Nero was standing over Credo, his right arm no longer human. Blood-red claws were raised to rip her brother's throat out.

_His arm...Sparda, what happened to him?_

Nero seemed to sense her stare, then guiltily looked down at his right arm. He tried to hide it behind his back. Credo groaned in pain, still trying to righten himself. Nero shot a look at her brother, then back at her, more guilt splashed over his face as it turned pink with color. He took a step towards her; automatically, she stepped back.

"No, wait..." he protested in a quivering voice, bringing his grotesque limb out to plead with his hands. "This isn't what you think."

Her hands clutched tightly the necklace she had given him, the gold leaves threatening to cut into her hand. He was scaring her so much. Nero would never hurt Credo. What had happened to him? She saw him only yesterday, fighting alongside the Order knights.

"Why," she whispered softly, her voice breaking in a tiny flutter. "Why did you do this?"

Nero struggled to find words, only reaching out with his left hand, trying to keep his right hidden from view. She continued to back away from him. She wanted to run, to get as far away from him as possible, but at the same time, she couldn't bear herself to abandon him.

Suddenly, there was someone next to her, the short man with the monocle from the Order. They'd never formally met, but she'd seen him once or twice.

"It was our, intention to protect you from the truth," he said sadly, then pointed a large sword at Nero. "Nero is a demon."

_A demon? No, Sparda, please it can't be!_

Nero's teeth bared into a snarl at the accusation. Kyrie felt a sort of pressure from him. It scared her even more.

"You son of a-" he growled, then took a step forward.

In a flash, the man was behind her, pressing her towards Nero. She gasped as his terrible presence drew closer.

"Nero..." she pleaded. The edges of things became blurry from the water building in her eyes.

Nero halted, his features softening. Both of his hands clenched tightly together. The pressure she felt faded a little.

"Not to worry," the man assured Nero, "We have no intentions of harming her...yet."

With that, he swept his blade away from Nero and to her slender throat. Kyrie almost fainted in shock. What was he doing? Over and over in her head, she begged Sparda to protect her from this madness. The blade was so big that the flat side covered her entire torso; her chin sat perched on the blade, tiny in comparison. Instead of the metal being cold, it felt dreadfully warm, as if the sword was alive.

"Though it would appear your attachment extends beyond friendship," he continued, observing both of their reactions.

Nero's snarl returned. "She has nothing to do with this...LET HER GO!"

"_Agnus_!" came Credo's voice, echoing even louder across the face of headquarters. He'd gotten to his feet, looking just like Nero: a furious snarl etched across his face. "How _dare _you use my sister?! This is my fight, and I will finish it! Let her go!"

It flooded Kyrie in warmth that Credo was okay. He joined Nero at his side, though limping the entire way. What the man, Agnus, said next, however, wiped her comfort clean:

"His Holiness predicted your defeat and so ordered that your sister be utilized."

Kyrie let out a strangled moan. Credo's face turned from anger to shock. His Holiness...ordered this?

The last thing she saw was Credo's face turn back into fury, screaming "What?!" before the world exploded into light, sending her into unconsciousness.

* * *

The flux of energy knocked Credo clean off his feet. Nero was able to stay standing. Agnus had vanished, but then Nero spotted him; hovering in the air. He'd turned into the creature he saw back in Fortuna Castle: a cross between an insect and a human. His body was covered by a carapace, other parts in fine white feathers. He had an abdomen jutting from his tailbone, and hovered aloft on a set of shimmery wings that buzzed furiously.

A single large red eye glared at Nero, the one that sat under the monocle. The other eye was blind. He held Kyrie in his left hand with long thin fingers, his gladius in his right. She was limp in his grip, but Nero forced himself to believe she was alright. The necklace he had given her winked at him in the sun.

"**If you want her, then come and get her, for I cannot guarantee her fate.**"

He flew up and over the front of headquarters, laughing, then disappeared.

"His Holiness...he used Kyrie?" Credo asked to no one in disbelief, on his hands and knees.

A quiet rage brewed in Nero. He couldn't lose it, not now. Not when she needed him the most. He was going to get her back, and he was going to kill that fuck Agnus for ever touching Kyrie.

"Where's he taking her?" Nero barked at Credo, yanking him by the collar to his feet. "Back to headquarters?"

Credo groaned at Nero's rough handling. "I would assume so...Nero, we must set aside this battle, until I find out the truth of this."

Nero was more than happy to agree. Credo wasn't his enemy anymore. He still hated him, but he could get along with him existing. Now, they had both been betrayed by the Order. They had a common enemy, and the enemy of his enemy was his friend.

Credo stumbled to the edge of the plinth, then transformed into his demon self, flying up and over the building. Nero bolted through the door. Even if he had to rip down headquarters with Devil Bringer, he was going to get her back.

* * *

**Author's Note: Like I said, favorite boss battle! Everyone should see this fight at least once. I order you to! But in all seriousness, timing those lance grabs are a pain. Especially on Hell and Hell mode, in which I am up to mission 17. I'm not sure if I can get past it anytime soon. As always, drop a review if you like what you're reading, and I'm always open to a nice critique. Thank you again, readers. I actually didn't think this story would be that successful.**


	10. For You

**Chapter 9: For You**

Nero didn't waste any time; he couldn't. He took off sprinting into the entrance of headquarters. There was a small awning, then the last stretch of the Gran Album. Headquarters towered above him, a milky white building, void of design save for the Order of the Sword emblem on the front. The entire featureless building seemed to be a mask for the true evil beneath it. Nero couldn't help but curl his lip in disgust, realizing that he wore the same emblem on his clothes.

None of that mattered. He had to get to Kyrie, and he even had a decent idea where she would be. There was a restricted section inside of the building, a place where Nero didn't have high enough clearance to go. It was as good as any place to start looking.

He blew out of the awning, then skidded to a halt halfway down the last stretch of open bridge. It had widened out to much more manageable proportions, now the width of a freeway. At the far end, two white knights stood guard. When he approached, they locked into combat stances, shields up and lances raised. But they were not meant for Nero.

Two assault lizards silently leaped past him, rushing then engaging the knights. They battled back and forth, neither group able to land a heavy blow. The battle abruptly stopped when both sides caught sight of something descending down the face of headquarters.

It was another knight, but unlike the white ones, its armor was gold. The armor was almost identical in every way, except of course for its color. It hovered down on a pair of pointed metal wings The new knight was armed with an Order rapier. Nero recognized the exceed port on the back of the blade.

The knight touched down, its greaves clanking only the slightest as it came into contact with the stone. The wings on its back slid off its shoulders, then pressed together, forming the shield in its left hand. It boldly strode forward towards its comrades. The assault lizards bounded straight for the new opponent. With a single sweep of its sword and a tweak of exceed, the gold knight cut through both of them, not even breaking stride. It stood between the two white knights, all three taking up battle positions.

Nero growled and sprinted straight for them. The gold knight pointed his sword, and by some unheard command, the white knights launched themselves at Nero, their shields folding back into wings, lances outstretched in charge.

Nero gleaned off of their lances with Red Queen, going straight for the gold knight. It was ready to meet him with its sword. Their blades clanged off each other, the heat from the exceed gauges like an out of control furnace between them. The knight parried a blow from Nero with its shield, then skidded back. In an instant, the two white knights were in front of it, forming a phalanx with shields raised to protect their commander.

The shoved at Nero, then stabbed forward. He vaulted back to avoid impalement. A new order was given, and the white knights launched themselves at Nero again, first one, then the other. The second one blew past, knocked him off balance. The gold was right behind them, bringing its flaming rapier around in an arc.

Nero blocked the blow with the equally hot Red Queen, feeling the blow travel up his arm and the blast of heat into his face. He engaged in another quick skirmish with the gold knight before one of the whites came soaring back. The other took position opposite of it, pinching Nero in the middle. They hurtled towards him, trying to smash him between themselves.

Nero hopped out from between them, the turbulence from their passing ripping his coat about in loud flaps. He attacked the gold again, but once again, the whites formed their protective phalanx.

Nero retreated, prepping Red Queen for the maneuver that came to his head. It was the same one he'd pulled in the cathedral plaza. The knights launched, one at a time, just like he'd hoped. He ducked low, then razed Red Queen in a horizontal line, opening the exceed all the way. He felt his shoulder graze the first's lance, but he ignored the burst of pain. Queen connected, slicing cleanly through both shield and armor. The knight fell in half, the forward momentum sending it into a viscous spiral that hewed it apart further. Nero spun on the ball of his foot, maintaining his speed forward and ducking under the second lance. This time, Queen bit through from behind, cleaving the second's shield away. He nicked the gold knight's blade, sending it stumbling from the force.

Nero came out of his spin, alight in red and blue fire. His hand flashed to his left hip, eyes locking onto the dazed and shieldless white knight.

"_**You're goin' down!**_" he roared, then swept his arm up. Yamato in all its beauty materialized in his hand, slicing cleanly through the armor. He brought the katana around again and again, eventually pulling Red Queen into the action for a two-some. When he finished with a viscous cross blow, the knight fell away into a dozen pieces.

"_**Ashes to ashes...**_"

Nero spun and brought Queen and Yamato on the gold leader, hewing off both arms in one strike, then unleashing a barrage of strikes that cut it apart like tin. The gold knight fell away, disintegrating. Nero swept his blades down, mock clearing the blood from them.

"_**Dust to dust...**_"

Yamato retreated back into Devil Bringer. Nero felt a slight burst of fatigue. It was either because Yamato had left him briefly, or he had used to much power in the Yamato/Queen frenzy. He shook it off; he didn't have time to rest.

The grand hall of headquarters was void of life. The bridge connecting the larger part of headquarters was up, and although Nero hit the switch to lower it, some type of plant held it firmly up. He was blocked.

_Okay, so find a way to unblock yourself!_

Nero turned and bolted through a side door. He knew what he had to do. Back in Mitis Forest, he'd seen similar plants. When he touched them, they withered and died. He didn't know why, but it was probably from the fruit that Devil Bringer absorbed from Echidna. All he had to do was touch a part of the plant, then try the switch again.

He pushed through more doors, moving both higher and deeper into the front of headquarters. All around him were cages of various sizes. Most of them were empty, but several housed demons. Thick bars held in a vicious pair of assault lizards, while another held a duo of silent frosts. One cage sat packed with twittering scarecrows, though it looked like they had been killing each other.

The cages must have been for Agnus's experiments. Nero ignored the twisted zoo, going through the only other door in the room. It led to a staircase that spiraled endlessly upward. For Nero, it couldn't end soon enough. Agnus probably took her straight to his own quarters. If he was seeing stuff that involved his twisted research, he had to be getting close. At the top of the stairs and one final door, the path widened out into a room. He looked around in every direction, desperately trying to spot Kyrie's white innocence in the macabre settings. Part of the tree had crept into the room, but that's not what caught his attention.

The room was spacious, smaller cages littering the corners, stained with blood and waste, thankfully empty. It was dimly lit by several candelabras, though something far different hung amongst them. It looked like a giant glass jar, filled with red light. Suspended in it by some kind of field was Kyrie.

Her auburn hair was gently floating, as if it were under water. She was still, almost peacefully sleeping, had it not been for the pained look on her lips and behind her closed eyelids.

Nero gasped and took a step forward; beating wings filled the air. Agnus returned, hovering next to her.

"**So...you've come...**" His words from Fortuna Castle. He showed his gladius.

"What have you done to Kyrie!?" Nero yelled.

"**Why don't you check and find out?**" mocked Agnus, "**But don't expect me to be as easy on you as I was last time.**"

Nero wouldn't want it any other way. He would gladly kill anyone who dared to get between him and her.

"If I have to kill you to save Kyrie...then let's roll!"

He flexed his right arm, Devil Bringer purring in a bright blue. Nero's face was set, daring Agnus to make the first move, which he gladly did. He swooped down, away from Kyrie, then slammed his gladius at Nero. He sidestepped underneath it, then backed away as Agnus swiped horizontally. His strokes looked powerful, but they were slow.

Agnus shot back, hovering a few feet above the ground on his glossy wings. His gladius disappeared in a flash of light. He raised his arms, the air behind him shimmering orange.

"**Time to dissect...**"

The light formed holes, portals, and gladii began to launch from them, spinning wildly. Not caring how he was able to summon demons, Nero banked away from the hail of blades. The ones that passed him unfolded, taking to the air in their bird forms, then began to swoop again. He lost track of one, and it sliced him up through the collar bone. Agnus gave an excited laugh and pumped his arm enthusiastically.

Yamato breathed, taking his pain away. Agnus swooped into the fray, drawing his hand back. Another portal opened, spewing a gladius into his hand. The two crossed swords in the cloud of demons. Agnus had advantages in both weight and agility, but Nero had a trick up his sleeve.

He mimicked what he did in the containment room. He snatched a gladius out of the air, then hurled it at Agnus. He shrieked in surprise as it shattered on his carapace.

_Not so smart, huh? Couldn't see this coming _again_?_

Nero volleyed a few more swords in his direction. One eventually broke through his armor, sending a spray of blood into the air, as well as a few white feathers. The single glaring red eye flashed.

"**Your strength will be mine!**" he cried than flew forward, grabbing Nero before he could defend himself. Agnus's thin slender fingers coiled around his throat. Hot electricity crackled at his grip on his neck, sending him into a seizure. He felt himself getting weaker and weaker as his demonic energy was sucked out.

In a panicked thrash, he yelled, and Yamato fluxed, a bright blue wave pulsing from his body. The force broke Agnus's hold on his neck. Nero fell to the ground on his knees, holding his throat. He could barely breathe. Before he had the chance to recover, Agnus smacked him with a gladius. The blow knocked Nero off his feet and into the fetid cages in the corner. Yamato worked furiously to repair the wound that almost spliced him in half.

A sudden burst of power coursed through Nero. His eyes blazed red with fury. Yamato fluxed again, clearing the twisted rubble away. Nero drove forward, Red Queen in his hand, Yamato in the knight-familiar behind him. He met Agnus head on. Despite the crazed scientist's tactics, he proved to be decent at swordplay.

Nero pushed Agnus back in a rage, insect wings carrying him high to the ceiling. A green aura began to glisten around him. The air trembled with an unseen force.

"**Time to die...**"

Nero jumped up, Yamato aiding his leap. He opened up Red Queen's exceed, using her as a rocket to further propel himself. His jumped arced just level with a very surprise Agnus. He unleashed a barrage of strikes, knocking the insect back to the ground.

The air behind Agnus shimmered again, a portal opening and spewing out a pair a cutlass fish like Nero had encountered in the castle tunnel. They dove into the ground, only to shoot up from beneath his feet. Nero rolled back over his shoulder to avoid them, then again as they nose dived back into the ground.

When he straightened, Agnus had procured two more. He spun a few times, building his momentum, then hurled them at Nero. The demonic fish spun like discs. Fortunately for Nero, he couldn't aim for dick, and was able to dodge them easily, letting them fly and obliterate some more cages.

Nero lashed out with Devil Bringer, clocking the scientist in his insect mandibles. He jumped up and grabbed him by the throat, then slammed him into the ground. Not letting go, he ripped him high into the air, then slammed him face first into the stone floor. At some point, Agnus tried to summon a sword, because several malformed gladii spilled out of nowhere. Nero grabbed one in each hand, then slammed the dull blades deep into his back. Agnus shrieked in pain as his own swords cracked his armor and lacerated his innards. Nero iced the cake by slamming Red Queen's hot blade in after the swords, then ripped it out painfully, the force of the action knocking him back across the floor.

With great effort, Agnus took to the air, managing a few feet. Blood was pouring from the holes in his midsection, which he tried to hold closed with his free hand. Still, he managed to procure a blade.

"**Uggghhhh...Damn you!**" he screeched. "**DAMN YOU!!** **I **_**will **_**kill you! I **_**WILL**_** kill you!**"

Nero laughed. Yamato's power retreated inside of him, too taxed from the battle to show its presence anymore. He didn't care. He was going to kill Agnus. It was over; game, set, match. He was tired as hell, but he wouldn't need much more energy to finish him.

"Is that all you got?" Nero mocked fighting past his pants, spreading his arms. Red Queen glistened in his blood. He pointed her tip at him. "I think it's time to put you out of your misery!"

Agnus let out a shrill yell of anger, raising his blade for one last desperate charge-

-but was halted when a white streak crossed in front of him. Another joined it, then another, and another. White knights were swooping into the room, circling Nero.

_Fuck! Not now!_

They dove, lances pointed. Nero stepped and parried as they shot by. He caught one by the lance, then hurled it away, only to get sideswiped by another. Back and forth he was jostled about, unable to do anything but block.

* * *

The shell of the Alto Angelo was weak, but it would serve its purpose as a vessel quite well. Sanctus hovered into the room after the Biancos began their assault. Agnus had failed miserably; truly he was unworthy to possess the ascended form of an angel. Though this failure could be overlooked, just this once. Agnus was the one who activated Nero's latent powers. Their plans had accelerated.

His subordinate's single red eye widened in surprise at his prescence.

"**Your Holiness!**" he gasped, managing a bow.

"That's enough Agnus," Sanctus said tiredly. "Go and prepare for activation."

Who needed Dante? They had everything they needed right here. Now it was just a matter of drawing the boy in, and that certainly would be easy enough.

"**Right away.**"

Agnus flitted out of the room, holding his wounds. Sanctus turned his attention on Nero. The boy truly was magnificent. The way he moved to avoid the Biancos, even though he was bordering on collapse, was amazing. Every grunt and effort was tinged with energy, like a ferocious beast that was cornered. He turned away from the sight, and let his gaze rest on one of the final pieces: Credo's sister.

He removed her from the containment vessel. One last look over his shoulder made him stop. The boy was furiously warding off the knights, trying to push closer. He caught two lances under his bare arms, then shoved them and the Biancos aside, but not without some difficulty. He was slowing. One last blow from a stray knight sent his rapier flying, though that hardly stopped him.

"Let her go!" he screamed as he jumped up after them. Two Biancos moved to intercept, but were quickly blown away by his right arm. "_Kyrie!_"

Perhaps it was his imagination, but he thought he heard the girl murmur the boy's name in response. Nero's demonic arm drew closer and closer. Sanctus actually had to move back to avoid him. His hand stopped short, just close enough to pluck the necklace from around her neck.

His face, twisted in frustration, melted into sorrow as he began to fall away.

_Pathetic._

* * *

_No..._

A knight slammed into him, the lance missing just underneath his arm. It planted him back to the ground. He'd been so close...so close to saving her. Now she was too far away, tucked under the arm of a gold knight.

"_You have indeed inherited Sparda's power..._" hissed a familiar voice. It was old man Sanctus.

_That bastard!_

The old man in the suit of armor simply turned away. Two more white knights cocked their lances, then dove. Nero's eyes burned red before they slammed down onto him. Yamato fluxed, throwing the knights from their dogpile and into the wall, where they collapsed with a clutter to the floor. He was on his feet, screaming in fury, but he was too late; Kyrie was gone.

He looked down, trembling, to his right hand. Her necklace sat in the glowing palm of Devil Bringer. With his left, he traced the delicate floral pattern, then stopped. The edges of his vision were turning blurry.

Nero dropped to his knees, then began to pound Devil Bringer into the arm, screaming in frustration with each blow. The last hit shattered the stone, sending long cracks beneath him. It wasn't working. He couldn't yell loud enough, Devil Bringer could never hit hard enough, not enough to bring her back.

Nero screamed again, unleashing another anguished barrage.

* * *

**Author's Note: Agnus embodies two types of bosses: the kind that drain your health and replenish their own, and the kind that prefer to summon things to fight you instead of himself. Both really irritate me. With my Xbox dying suddenly on me (red lower right quadrant flash), I won't be finishing Hell and Hell mode anytime soon. I was just barely able to finish the game with a super character before it croaked. We're just about to the halfway point. Next up: Nero bumps into a familiar face. Let me know if things are still good!**


	11. Wrapped in Glory

**Chapter 10: Wrapped in Glory**

Nero breathed deeply, then let out another scream of emotional pain, driving Devil Bringer up to the wrist into the ground.

_I lost her...She was so close...and I lost her..._

He desperately tried to blink back the tears. He wasn't going to cry. Crying was for sissies. He wasn't a damn sissy; he was going to save her. The old man took her, and he was going to get her back and crush his withered skull in the process, then he was going to kill that insect freak for even _touching_ her in the first place.

A loud crash brought him back to reality. Devil Bringer came into contact with several of the tree's roots in the stone. Like a sickness, whatever caused the demonic wood to crumble spread to the main body, releasing its hold on the last bridge into headquarters. The stone path had fallen back into place with a thunderous smash.

Nero got up and wiped his face with his left hand, then turned and left Agnus's chamber. Back down the stairs, he entered the demon containment room. As he passed through the cages, the surroundings began to darken, as if a shroud was beginning to enclose the room. Two mephistos silently swooped in from the darkness, their talons raised, then extended their claws with a whine.

Stoically, Nero simply moved his head and stepped away from both spikes as they rocketed past him. What appeared to be a third one rose from the ground between them. From the darkness, an angry barrage of spikes flew towards him, five in total, moving way faster than the mephistos'.

Nero cartwheeled out of their way, only to tuck and roll as another volley of red death speared at him. One came right at him, and he just barely managed to catch it in the claws of Devil Bringer before it ran him through.

Several of the spikes retracted back into the darkness. The owner revealed itself. It was indeed another mephisto, only this one's skull was bone white, with a stringy clump of hair. It wore a wide brimmed hat that hung low over its eyes, made of the same material as its cloak.

It tipped the brim of its hat up with its claws, peering at Nero with hollow look from its blank sockets. He returned it with a snarl.

_Just what I need. Something to work some stress out._

The battle was brief. The two mephistos fell quickly, crushed beneath Devil Bringer's fist. The third demon put up a little better fight. Nero slashed away the cloak, revealing the skeletal insect body beneath it. Cowardly, it tried to scuttle away, but he ran it down with Red Queen, then promptly blew its skull away with two thorns from Blue Rose.

Nero made his way back to the grand hall and to the now lowered bridge that connected the way. He pushed through the door, then stopped.

_Crap, forgot about this._

He was in the security hallway. It was void of life, but Nero knew better. He sniffed, smelling the acrid scent, the scent of lightning. All along the walls and ceiling, small lasers were set, programmed to slice anything that wasn't authorized to be in the room. Right now, Nero was willing to bet that included him.

He let out a slow breath, trying to relax his thoughts. The last image of Kyrie was still in his head, helpless in the arms of the old man. He willed her deeper into his mind, clearing his conscience; he'd need all the focus he could get. After he cleared his head, he reached up, giving Red Queen a tug, making sure she was secure in her sling. He flipped his coat back, making sure it was smooth and loose, then crouched down, like a sprinter at the start line.

_Now!_

Nero launched himself forward, stepping onto the red carpet of the plush hallway. No sooner did he take 4 bounds, a bright red beam cut across his vision. He ducked low to avoid the laser, keeping his momentum. Another one activate, knee level. He cleared it with a hop. Another one turned on, then another, then another, and another. Soon, the hallway was a web of deadly light, intending to stop his progress. Nero darted left and right, coming within an inch of his life from the hot beams.

He was halfway down the hall. More than once he almost fell into the beams, even more hearing the sound of singing cloth. He flipped through two, rolled under another. He redirected, taking a few steps along the wall to avoid a sweeping vertical pair. The last 50 feet of the hall intensified, determined to snuff his life. Nero tripped as he cleared the last beam, the laser sweeping so close that it took a chunk of his coat off.

As he collapsed in a heap, the grid snapped off, the hallway standing silent once more. Nero wiped the sheen of sweat off his forehead, then let Yamato take his fatigue away. He pushed through the door leading out of the security hall. He knew what doors to ignore, and which ones lead to dead ends. He headed for the restricted zone, the area that was forbidden to a knight of his rank.

He didn't meet any resistance as he progressed. When the hallway ended in an elevator, he took it to the only floor that was on the panel, a few levels up. He found himself in a meeting room, a wide circular theater with a second floor balcony. A table sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by chairs. Through some more halls and doors, he came to a peculiar room.

It was empty, save for a raised plinth in the center, which housed some sort of object that Nero didn't recognize. Not caring, he simply strode across the room...

...until he blinked.

"What took you so long?"

The assassin...Dante, was casually leaning against one of the four posts of the object, his hands resting on the hilt of his Gothic greatsword, point in the ground. He grinned at Nero, then slung it over his shoulder.

"You...what are you doing here?" Nero snapped, then shook his head. "Forget it. I don't have time for this."

He simply walked straight at Dante, then shoved him out of the way.

"And neither do I..." he replied, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

Nero growled and shoved his hand off, then swiped with Devil Bringer. Dante easily stepped back, away from the blow. The blow turned Nero around, and he followed up with another punch. This time, Dante cocked his head to the side and grabbed the demonic arm. His grip was like iron.

"...so I'll cut to the chase..."

Devil Bringer pulsed a bright blue, power being fed into it by Yamato. Nero grunted and began to pull his arm free. He didn't expect Dante to suddenly let go. Nero fell off balance, tumbling into the wall, which cracked from the impact, sending a shower of dust on him.

"...I'm here for the sword."

Nero shook his head in anger. The bastard was playing him! His eyes pulsed red for a second, then the flames began to creep over him, illuminating his body in the fog of stone particles.

"Your _**point being?**_" he growled as his voice shifted key. He fluxed, clearing the dust away, the wave blowing the tail of Dante's crimson coat back. The assassin lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the glare. When he lowered it, he looked with interest at the form Nero had taken, especially at the knight familiar hovering behind him. Yamato melted into existence in his right hand, a snake ready to strike.

"It was originally my brother's," he said mildly, then sighed in boredom as he unslung his sword. "Return it to me, and I'll let you go...kid."

_Kid?_

"_**Kid?**_" Nero hissed, then gave a brief laugh. "_**Well...if that's how you see me, I think you'll blush a pretty pink when I kick your ass!**_"

He swept Yamato up in an arc. A blade of energy flew from the tip. Dante paused, then leaped as the katana's venom blew past him. The energy hit the corner of the room, vaporizing a column into a cloud of rubble. Dante landed easily on the roof of the object in the center of the room, stylishly crossing his legs, sword resting on his shoulder.

"Ah...helpful hint," he said. "Take a tip from your elders."

He jumped down to meet Nero, bringing the sword down off his shoulder. Nero met it with Red Queen. The sword felt just as powerful as before. They shoved off each other, skidding along the plush purple carpet. He followed up with a four strike. Dante batted each swipe away with a casual twist of his sword, then counterattacked with his own three swing combo.

Nero parried the incoming blows, then slashed back. Once again, Dante had no problem blocking each strike. He was surprised when, instead of slashing, he darted around him in the blink of an eye, _then_ struck.

Nero shoved Red Queen behind him, feeling the blow connect squarely on her blade. He pivoted and swung, finding only air. Dante had skated behind him again. This time, he had to duck underneath his blade. When he tried to strike back, the man in red had once again effortlessly glided to a new position almost instantly.

He feinted with Red Queen, trying to anticipate where Dante would strike next. Instead, he dashed back. Nero took the opportunity to project Devil Bringer, its claw grabbing onto his leather. He jumped up, then hurled him into the floor. The ground formed spiderweb cracks, Dante slamming into it with enough force to liquefy his internal organs, had he been human. Nero flipped in mid-air, then brought Queen's point around, looking to double down.

As her point neared Dante, he simply melted away. Red Queen buried into nothing but stone and carpet. Confused for a split second, Nero froze, then something made him look up. Dante was barreling down on him, sword in hand ready to cut in half.

Nero wrenched his sword out of the ground and flipped back just as the blade came down, leaving a trench on top of the cracks. Dante laughed and lazily slung his sword.

"Hey, wassup?" he called.

Nero grunted in annoyance, then whipped out Blue Rose in a flash, emptying the cylinder at Dante. At the same time, the assassin whipped his coat back, ripping his automatics from their holsters. He fired, impossibly fast, and shot the thorns out of the air.

A new stem of thorns fell into Blue Rose. Nero began to fire again, strafing to the left, back towards the center of the room. Dante followed, picking his shots out of the air, every so often twitching to avoid a stray bullet. The device in the center of the room fell between them, earning new holes as it fell between the shooters.

Both men reloaded, then lunged for each other. They began to fire point blank, each of them trying to knock the others weapons out of the way and shoot the other at the same time. The heat from the silver and obsidian automatics scorched Nero's face as the muzzles discharged again and again. He smelled nothing but cordite.

Nero pushed off of a swipe from Dante's arm, trying to reload as he spun.

_What the hell?!_

He was suddenly staring down the barrels of a very crude but angry looking hunting shotgun. He twisted out of the way just as the gun erupted in fire. It sounded as if the gun had been modified to fire both barrels at once.

Dante broke the gun, reloaded, and snapped it back shut. Two crimson spent shells twirled over his shoulder, then clunked hollowly on the floor. The shotgun was suddenly a blur in his hand, spinning like a nunchuck. Nero felt a white hot pain on the side of his gut. The assassin lunged toward him, stabbing the gun forward like a spear. Nero twisted away, the muzzle of the gun burying instead in one of the columns of the device. Both of the shells splintered the stone in a flurry of shrapnel.

They broke away from each other, Nero holding his side, Dante twirling his shotgun on his finger. Yamato's energy pushed through Nero; the buckshot inside of him pushed out through his wounds, then his fingers, falling to the floor like metal rain drops. Dante grinned, interested at the process, then tucked his weapon in his coat at the small of his back.

"C'mon," he beckoned with one hand, drawing into a wider stance.

Nero yelled and streaked forward. Instead of bringing his own sword into play, Dante crouched low underneath the strike, palming the blade up. Nero skated past, unsteadied from the blow. He collected himself quickly, then unleashed a combo. Once again, Dante avoided the blade by redirecting it with his hands. Frustration began to set in, and Nero left himself wide open. Dante's palm buried deep into his gut, expelling his breath with a spray of spit. He doubled over and tried to prop himself on Queen.

Dante casually paced to a new spot, then beckoned again to Nero in a fighters stance, that stupid grin still on his face. Nero shrugged off the blow and attacked. A few swipes later, Dante's palm connected with his face, dead center on his nose. Yamato stopped the blood, but was unable to mend his bruised pride. He roared in anger and the knight-familiar rose out of him. Yamato uncoiled itself into his right hand.

Dante visibly grew more excited at his outburst. He bent over, crouched low. "Haha! Showdown!"

Nero ran at him with both weapons. Yamato had speed, Red Queen had power. He swiped with both again and again. Dante skipped back and forth, alternating between blocks and dodges. He returned the sword strokes, slashing with his sword. He pushed forward in a stab, his arm and blade become a blur of multiple points as he stabbed at Nero with impossible speed.

Nero blocked the last powerful stab with the flat side of Queen, feeling an energy course through the blades. Dante swung up, his move almost the spitting image of Nero's high roller. Nero crouched and blocked with his blades, but the resounding blow pushed him up off his feet and into the air. Dante appeared in front of him, unleashing a volley of slashes. Their swords clanged in mid-air before Dante spun and delivered a back blow, knocking Nero to the ground with a gash across his chest.

He landed, skidding on his feet, to find Dante barreling down on him. The man in red let loose a combo that didn't seem to stop. Three hard blows, a backhand that swiped over and around him, another barrage of stabs, then another three blows, each one harder then the last, finally ending with a king-sized baseball swing that blew Nero off his feet and into the wall, which splintered behind him.

He shook the stars away, seeing Dante crouched, sword reversed in hand, sticking behind him like a tail. He whipped it forward and a wave of energy flew out, much like Yamato's, only red. Nero rolled away as the wave carved a black hole in the wall where he'd been standing. He roared and let fly one of his own, charging in its wake at Dante.

Dante cut through the wave like it was nothing. Nero followed up right behind it, swinging Yamato again and again. He put the man on defensive as the katana pummeled his sword again and again. With one great underhand cut, the greatsword was flung from Dante's hands. Nero saw his opening and took it, stabbing forward with Yamato, the katana edging closer and closer to his throat, ready to spill his blood-

-and Dante simply leaned back and gave Nero a playful shove in the back of the head. He sprawled forward on his face, getting the worst rug burn in his entire life. He rolled over, but before he could so much as raise his sword, Dante was on him, pressing one boot onto the wrist of Devil Bringer. The barb of his sword hooked around his throat. Nero tried to flux, but with Yamato outside of him, he quickly found that he had no reserves yet. Red Queen was trapped underneath his body.

Nero was beat.

"You cooled off yet, kid?" panted Dante.

Nero glared at him, just wishing that he would hurry up and take his head off. He could do without the taunting.

_At least I got him breathing hard._

"What's the matter?" the assassin asked. "Why the glare?"

"You look as if you've just been playing me from the beginning!"

Dante did a very surprising thing. He pulled his sword away from Nero's neck, and moved his boot from Devil Bringer. He propped the blade over his shoulder, even turned his back to Nero. For a brief moment, he considered attacking him, but then dismissed the idea. Even at his best, Dante kicked his ass and barely lost his breath.

"That sword," Dante informed him, "Was used to separate our world from the demons'" Nero got to his feet, grunting in effort. "I can't have something of that kind of power floatin' around now, can I? It's gotta stay in the family."

Nero looked at Yamato. The perfect mirror finish bladed reflected him and part of the demolished room. There was never a single blood stain on it. The steel seemed to drink it away. He briefly wondered about it's previous owner. Dante's brother?

_I can't give it back. Not yet._

"I need this..." Nero said softly.

_I need it to save her._

Dante paused, then shrugged. "Then keep it."

Nero looked at the older man, astonished. Dante only smirked.

"Now that you're calm and cool..." He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. "...get going."

Nero gripped Yamato tightly. He finally got it. He walked past Dante, half expecting the man to pull a fast one on him, but no. There was only the flutter of their coats and Nero's footsteps.

"Hey!" Dante called. "What's your name?"

"Nero," the young knight replied. "You're Dante, right?" He gave a soft laugh, then whispered, "Not a bad name..."

* * *

"Neither is yours," the devil hunter said, more to himself than to the kid. Not a bad name at all.

He watched as Nero headed down the hall, no doubt going to raise some hell. Rebel against authority, that was his motto. Well, one of his mottos. It wasn't much of a motto anyway if authority was an evil religious cult now was it?

Right now, he had his own problems. Let the kid worry about the old dude and his girl for now. Dante had to-

-a sexy pair of hips sashayed into Dante's view. Chocolate tan skin almost glistening under skimpy white cloth, not to mention one hell of a rack. The smoking hot babe with silvery eyes and white hair stared at him suggestively, then paused, waiting for him to make the first move.

Dante busted out in laughter. "Ha-ha! That regal look suits you!" he said in between guffaws.

The babe spread her arms. "I dress to impress!" She swept her arm up, pulling what seemed to be a black cloak from out of nowhere over herself. It disappeared as quickly as it came. The dark babe in white was gone.

Deep,tan skin was replaced by white, pale skin. Shiny ebony leather took the place of the intricate regal costume. The short, white hair had grown out until it stretched to her tail bone, shimmering gold, and the silvery eyes deepened, until they were pools of bright blue.

Trish causally strutted towards Dante. "Are you sure you want to let him go?"

Dante shrugged. "Yeah, I figure he can bear the burden."

"I know it's not my business," she began tentatively as she circled around him, then placed a cool hand on his shoulder, "but this could turn ugly..."

"Well, if the kid screws up, then I'll just have to kick his ass."

* * *

**Author's Note: Halfway mark, people! It is physically impossible (imo) to fight Dante head on. The guy counters EVERYTHING, and ends up raping you 10 times over. And so help you God if he hits you with a royal release. Die hard fans will recognize the style changes; it goes trickster, gunslinger, royal guard, and swordmaster. I'm not going to do style changes as Dante. Instead, I'll just have him kinda do everything at once. That makes a little more sense. I'm a little disappointed in Capcom for making Trish into Gloria. I would have much rather fight her as Dante as a boss battle. That'd be sweet. Up next, I think Dante described it best: 'Showdown!'**


	12. The Ninth Circle

**Chapter 11: The Ninth Circle**

Nero ground to a halt, finding himself in the open air of the outdoors. He had to be nearing the back of headquarters; already, he was far into the restricted zone. What he saw now was something he'd never dream of in a million years.

A great, circular hall rose into the sky in a column. Endless cloisters spanned up at regular intervals. Everywhere he looked was gray stone, built in elegant arches and columns, like an ancient Greek temple.

In the center of the cylinder was what appeared to be a statue made from gleaming white stone, though Nero could hardly fathom the size. It stood on two legs, with feet far larger than buses. A large, ocean blue gem was set into the shin, about halfway between the knee and foot. Nero couldn't even see the rest of the titan.

_What the hell is this thing?_

The Order wouldn't secretly build a massive statue for private worship. No, there had to be some other reason. From what he'd learned, it couldn't be anything good. He was nearing the end of his search of headquarters. Kyrie had to be somewhere close.

Nero took off, looking for a way up. On the way, he spied more of the statue's body. It was indeed in the shape of a human being. He found some stairs that led to the next cloister. He saw it's legs, thick and muscular, without a single blemish in the stone. Further up still, he saw its gut and hands. Another set of gems were on the top of its wrists.

Running up another set of stairs, he felt a presence. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he felt the presence of a demon, but not like the ones he'd felt before. It was weak, but at the same time, it was big, like a growing storm. It felt like it was radiating from the statue.

_I don't like this..._

Up onto another cloister. The statue was widening out, forming the broad shoulders of a man with a muscular chest. In the center of its breast was yet another gem, this one the largest so far. Nero was still a few cloisters from the top. He could make out the statue's head, but not its features.

Finally, he reached the top, stopping cold as he saw the last of the statue. He stood just level with the sternum.

Sparda.

It was the spitting image of the statue in the cathedral, the one that Nero and Dante almost leveled in their brawl. It looked almost entirely human, had it not been for two great horns that curved downward, and a broken halo embedded in its skull. On the forehead was another blue gem. Nero could only gape at the monstrosity, wondering how the Order could design something so ludicrous.

"What the-?"

"Is it not beautiful?"

Nero snapped Blue Rose up, aiming at the tiny figure suddenly standing on the head of the statue. It was the old man. He was still wearing his robes from the sermon, including the tall episcopal mitre on his head. A powerful gold aura burned from his body, making the air around him shimmer.

"I think we've got a difference of opinion on that one," Nero said tightly. He kept his gun up, though Sanctus was too far away for a clean shot.

The old man shook his head. "How unfortunate." He beckoned with his hand, and the gem on the giant's forehead wavered, then glowed. Nero squinted, trying to see through the light. A figure was emerging. His eyes widened when he recognized her, lowering his gun slightly.

"Kyrie..."

She stuck halfway in and out of the gem, awake, but her eyes were wandering, bordering on unconsciousness. Nero didn't have any idea what powers were upon her, or if she was even okay. Seeing her in such a state made his blood run cold.

"Is it not your wish to become one with her?" Sanctus taunted. Nero locked back onto him with Blue Rose. "Within the Savior, your bodies will combine, melting into one to manifest and create his core...A thing of utter and pure beauty!"

"Go blow yourself!" Nero spat through a clenched jaw.

Sanctus growled at Nero's insolence. Beneath him, Kyrie still hovered, the lower half of her body simply missing in the glow of the gem.

"I'm here to save you..." Nero whispered to her, even though she couldn't hear him. "Please...trust me."

Kyrie was sucked back into the gem, which became solid again. Nero slowly clenched Devil Bringer into a fist. He could feel Yamato already beginning to charge him. The old man was going to pay; pay for lying to him and Kyrie. She believed in Sparda so blindly, and this monster was willing to sacrifice her.

"I'm afraid you are too late," the old man informed him, "But although incomplete, this is your chance to catch a glimpse of the true power of the Savior!"

Sanctus leaped off of the head and landed on the same platform as Nero, hovering a few meters above the stone. Emerging from his back was a wide, incomplete halo, spread like wings.

Nero didn't waste anytime rushing to meet him. He quickly fired Blue Rose, but the rounds stopped a few feet from the old man. Nero caught sight of some kind of shield, encasing his body like a bubble, before it vanished again, blending into the air like a chameleon.

Nero jumped up and swung Red Queen, but the blade was halted as if it struck a wall. Sanctus shouted, and a ball of fire flew from his hand and into Nero's chest. He fell back on the ground, working to extinguish the flames licking over his clothes.

"You will fail!" cried the old man, then motioned with his arms. A current of fire streaked towards him along the ground. Nero spun to his feet just in time to feel the heat surge by. Another current blazed towards him; he jumped over it. Sanctus was beginning to hover away, unleashing ball after ball of fire.

Nero skated between them. It was clear that the old man was a distance fighter. He had to close the gap between them. He stumbled as a trio of well-aimed fireballs singed his shoulder. He jumped up to meet Sanctus again, but his shield still held strong against Queen's hot blade.

All around him, rays of energy shot down from the sky, then arced like lightening. Nero was thrown off his feet from the blast. He could feel the charge still running through his body. Yamato did its best to counteract it. He kicked back up and began to close the gap between them, dodging fireballs and rivers of flame.

Sanctus launched a stream of lightening from his hands into the ground. It spread across it like a blanket. Nero's boots left the ground just in time. He sailed through the air, twisting into a roulette. Queen sparked as her point grazed the shield again and again. Nero slashed once more before returning to the ground. Perhaps it was his imagination in the desperation of the battle that he thought he felt it give a little more.

The deadly chase began again. He wasn't sure why, but the attacks were sapping his strength, even with Yamato aiding him. The fire scorched his body again and again, searing flesh repaired over and over. The electricity that fried his internal organs left a tingling all over. And still, he had not landed a single blow on his former master.

With one last effort, Nero jumped up and swung Red Queen. He channeled the Yamato's power, the knight familiar striking with him. Finally, the old man's shield gave way. Both Yamato and Queen slowed, the ripped through the field like a dull knife through cloth. He gave a cry of surprise as the air around him burst into sparks. Twisting in mid-air, Nero slashed again. He missed Sanctus, but sliced cleanly through his halo. The device shattered and dissolved, and the old man began to fall to the ground.

Not before Nero caught him with Devil Bringer.

"Pray for help to your Savior..." he breathed as they began their descent. "..._**'cause you're gonna need it!**_"

Nero slammed him into the ground with all of his strength. The old man's frail body cracked the stone on impact. Nero landed and caught him on the rebound. He began to pummel him, again and again, assaulting him with blows from Devil Bringer and his normal left hand. The old man's body crumpled and folded as his attacks continued. The savage beating paused with an uppercut to his belly that lifted him off his feet.

"_**I'm not interested in your bullshit!**_" Nero growled as the old man pitifully grabbed at the front of his jacket. Nero grabbed him by the collar, then drew back his fist; he and the knight familiar rammed their fists into his face.

The punch sent Sanctus flying across to the other end of the platform. How a withered old man was able to stand after a beating like that was beyond Nero. He really didn't care.

_Let's see if he can get back up after he meets Queen!_

Nero lunged and swiped, but Sanctus skated back, off of the platform and floated to the Savior's chest, halo reformed. He grinned evilly, then in a flash of light, sank into the white stone. The gem on its forehead pulsed. The ground rumbled, then shook violently. Parts of the building began to collapse as the statue suddenly started to move, raising its arm high over its head.

_Holy shit!_

The Savior swung its fist down, right on top of Nero. He dove as fast as he could to the side. The ground exploded in a shower of rock as the fist slammed into the platform. He felt the platform buckle beneath him, more loud crashes sounding as support structures collapsed.

He began to run as the Savior drew back its fist again. As it came down, he abruptly changed directions. The massive hand took off a third of the platform with a thunderous crash. Nero felt the platform shift again. If he didn't do something, it would end up collapsing.

For the third time, the Savior swung downward. Nero ground to a halt, then reached out with Devil Bringer. Aided by Yamato, he smacked the fist with his own. The stone cracked beneath him from the meeting force, but the platform held. The giant statue faltered as its arm was knocked back. Sanctus popped halfway out of the gem on the forehead, stunned as well.

Nero jumped into the air, over the gap between the Savior and the platform. Red Queen was cocked over his shoulder, ready to cleave the old man in half. He drew closer and closer-

-Sanctus slid into the gem, only to be replaced by Kyrie. Nero faltered, trying to avoid landing on her. In the same instant, the Savior snatched him out of the air, holding him in a crushing grip.

"Held back by love..." mocked Sanctus as he melted out of the skull of the Savior. "...such a shame. Still, I must salute a man who carries the blood of Sparda."

_Blood of Sparda? What's he on?_

Nero writhed furiously in the stone fingers. Devil Bringer was sandwiched along his body, Red Queen smashed in her sling across his back.

"While not in Dante's league, you still presented a harder fight than I had anticipated."

"Dante?" Nero growled

"I originally intended to absorb him into the Savior, but circumstances presenting, I'd rather choose the option at hand."

Before Nero, Kyrie was slowly pulled back into the jewel. He grunted in fury as he renewed his struggle to free himself. He wasn't going to lose her. Not again, and certainly not like this. The Savior lifted him higher, drawing him closer to Sanctus. The old man beckoned with his hand, and Nero felt a peculiar sensation spreading through his numbing body.

In a glow of light, Yamato was pulled from Devil Bringer, melting through the stone. The katana hovered across the gap and into Sanctus's hands. Like a switch turning off, Nero suddenly felt weaker, his power separated from him.

"When your blood and this sword are combined," Sanctus said, admiring the beauty of the sword, "we will be able to proceed to the final stage our ultimate goal!"

A white flash suddenly swooped from the sky, landing on the head alongside Sanctus. A blade struck out, cutting him aside. It was Credo, in his demonic form.

"**Nero, **_**run!**_**" **he yelled.

Nero felt the Savior's grip slacken and managed to worm Devil Bringer out into the open, beginning to push-

"**Aaargh!**"

"Credo!"

In an unseen move, Sanctus plunged Yamato into Credo. The sword began to drain his power, the proud, angelic eagle reverting back to a human. In his stomach, around the blade, red began to spread in the pure white of his uniform.

"You have betrayed us," Sanctus accused. "Why?"

Despite the fact that he was run through, Credo stayed on his feet. He leaned and grabbed Yamato's hilt to steady himself, his dark eyes glaring into his former master's.

"I sssserved the dream of a world you spoke of, the Savior you...preached of..." he said, his voice slurred in agony. "But you used my sister...Kyrie...who has nothing to do with this...and _that_ is beyond forgiveness!"

Sanctus shoved Yamato deeper into his stomach, silencing him with a gasp. "Love...for a sibling?" he scoffed. "How _ridiculous_."

He raked the katana out in a cruel jerk, sending a spray of Credo's blood across the Savior's head. Credo grunted, then went rigid, simply falling over, into the abyss of the chamber.

"All that is needed...is absolute power."

Nero reached out, trying to grab a hold of his older brother, but he was too far away. Credo fell, a stream of crimson trailing after him from the wound in his gut.

* * *

Dante saw the moment for his entrance and took it. He leaped out from behind the broken pillar he was leaning on and sailed through the air. Catching the falling guy was a snap, and he landed safely on a stable platform below. With a cock of his head, he motioned for Trish to cover his ass.

She did so, the curves of her sexy form coiling into a casual stance, her guns, Luce on her shoulder, Ombra at her hip. Dante was busy setting the knight captain down, but he could envision the look on the old guy's face.

"Oh, it's you...'Gloria'" Sanctus wheezed.

Trish shrugged.

"Unfortunately," he continued. "You did not anticipate a descendant of Sparda's blood, and because of this boy, you have been outwitted, and the Savior will be completed!"

"I dunno," Dante chimed in, joining Trish at her side. "I'd wager this kid still has some life in him."

On cue, Nero acted. His right arm projected a larger one that shot out and snatched Sanctus off of the colossus's head. He whipped him into its chest, but not before Dante noticed one critical mistake.

_Damn, kid. You didn't see that coming?_

The old dude did his trick in melting into the stone. Nero managed a brief look of surprise before he popped out of the hand and stabbed Yamato through the kid's crazy right arm.

"You fool!" Sanctus screeched in outrage. "Escape is now impossible! The creation cannot be stopped!"

He let out a cliché bad guy laugh, then sank back into the stone.

_And he's already got Yamato. Jeez kid, and to think I was giving you credit!_

Dante was willing to give Nero the benefit of the doubt on handling it himself. Either the old guy was too strong, or the Dante overestimated Nero. Probably the former. Oh well, now they had a problem. Now that Yamato had sipped the kid's blood, the Savior had a new power source.

Nero suddenly sagged in the grip of the Savior. Dante had seen him take a lot more punishment then a paper cut to the arm. The blue glowing flesh began to dim, until it almost turned gray. He rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Hey kid!" he called. "You givin' up so soon?"

"My options...are limited," Nero gasped. He began to sink further into the grip of the colossus.

_Just as I thought. It's drawing him in..._

"Ha. Soooo melodramatic...Besides, if you die without giving me my sword back, I'm gonna be pissed!"

Nero disappeared from sight. His right arm was the last to slowly sank down after him in a small pool of gold light. The claw twisted around, then extended the middle finger.

"Then come and get it..." were his last words.

Dante grinned. "Heh, what a punk."

* * *

**Author's Note:** **And thus we take a break from Nero! I don't have too much to prattle on about this time. I finally have access to another Xbox, so I can give Hell and Hell mode another go. Also, I need some help with ideas for mission 19. You all know what I mean. No dice game. Oh, and dark5523, I don't consider hitting Sanctus to be "pope-bashing." He's not even the pope.**


	13. A New Beginning

**Chapter 12: A New Beginning**

A great rumbling began to resonate throughout the cloisters. The Savior started to tremble, then move as it began to float upward. Large pieces of stone platforms and columns from the building were swept up with it, caught in an unseen field. The bits of debris hovered around the statue as a great halo formed from it's back, spread wide like an eagle's wings. It began to move, passing over the ruined facility and over the sea, making a B-line for the city.

Dante couldn't help but laugh. "Check it out!" he said to Trish, gesturing to it with one hand. "It's got wings!"

The blond woman furrowed her nose in disapproval, neck craned up at the figure in the sky. "The design shows terrible taste..."

Behind them, the Order captain groaned, giving a wet cough of blood. It seemed he was still alive. Dante had to say that he was impressed. An ordinary human would never withstand a run in with Yamato.

"Hey!" he called, leaving Trish to continue critiquing the departing statue. "Where's that thing going? It's not complete yet is it?"

The captain...what did Trish say his name was? Credo, that was it...Kinda sounded like a prick. He coughed again before speaking. "It is in his heart to save the world from chaos...he will begin by driving it out...

Credo began to try to sit up, using a broken chunk of rock for leverage.

"Now he has what he needs..." said Trish, joining them. "...Yamato."

_Ugh, that can't be good. Is he really going to try and open the gate?_

"Sparda used it to seal the Hell Gate from the demon world," gasped Credo. "...the sword is the key to opening the Hell Gate. The _real_ Hell Gate, that lies dormant beneath this city..."

_Thought so..._

"The sword that separates the human world from the demon world," Dante said lightly. He knew how it worked.

Credo leaned forward, thick streams of blood dripping from his gut. "I think you...son of the Dark Knight Sparda, are the only one who can stop the Savior now..."

Trish grinned at Dante. "Looks like you've got a rep to live up to."

"Looks that way," he sighed. So much for this being a quick job. His to do list just got a lot longer.

Credo's grunts of pain became more frequent as he tried to stand up. Dante didn't try to stop him. He was already well on his way out. There wasn't anything he or Trish could do for him. If he wanted to make it hard on himself, so be it.

Credo straightened, trying to stand proud. "Please...Honor one last request..._save them_...Kyrie and...Nero..."

With that, he slumped forward. Dante casually caught him easily with one arm. The former captain's body glowed, brighter and brighter until it was almost white, then shattered into a million tiny particles that softly disappeared into the air.

Trish's face went solemn. Dante stood and puffed his chest out.

"I'll do it," he said quietly, then folded his arms, his tone brightening. "I wouldn't want to deny anyone their last request." It wasn't his style.

Trish stuck Luce on her shoulder. "I'll sweep the city and evacuate the people," she proclaimed and began to stroll off.

Dante blinked.

_Wait just a damn minute!_

"Hey!" he called after her. "Is this your way of ditching and dumping this mess-"

"You wanna switch?" she asked sweetly.

Dante paused, his mouth still open. Duh. He raised his hands in defeat, then brushed by her "It's cool...Let's stick to the plan."

Right, like there _was_ a plan.

* * *

Yamato sat silent in his hands. Agnus quietly walked along the thin stone bridge beneath the cathedral that lead to the lock. The sword was the key, and he was the one destined to open the door.

"Lend me your ears...and fangs..." he breathed. He stepped onto the circular plinth. In the center was a blood red gem that glowed slightly. Around it were faint red markings, ancient spells that held the gate tightly shut. The scientist took a deep breath and reversed Yamato in his grip.

"Destroy this world so that the true utopia can be born!" he yelled, then plunged the sword into the gem.

A white light pulsed from the abyss below him. Symbols and images formed that even his brilliant mind could not decipher. Yamato's power coursed through the rock platform, fueling the gate. All the pieces were in place, all the variables calculated. It was time for the true experiment to begin.

"Judgment day has arrived!" he screamed

* * *

The great gate that stood amidst the city wavered and bubbled as if it were water, then burst forward in a black torrent. Thousands, if not tens of thousands of black cloaked demons emerged. The denizens of Fortuna were thrown into a panic as a slaughter began. Some ran and hid. Others simply fell to their knees and prayed to Sparda. Great lizards dressed for war joined the fray, running people down in the street, mauling men women and children.

As more and more demons poured forth, a new force arrived; an army of flying knights in white and gold armor. They engaged the demons, halting their spread throughout the city.

A great figure emerged from the cliffs near the sea. A giant, floating from a halo. The people recognized the image of Sparda, with a great many of the knights buzzing around him like insects. The colossus floated to the edge of the city. A tiny figure stood on the head, bathed in a golden light.

"Do not fear!" cried the figure. It was His Holiness. "Our Savior has come for us, to deliver us salvation! We must repent and rejoice, for the world has not yet come to an end!"

A great force of energy collected in the giant's halo, then released itself in a beam, carving through the city streets and vanquishing the invaders. All of the people were amazed by the awesome display of power. None took heed to the maniacal laughter from their leader.

* * *

"That's a solid performance for an old fart like you," Dante said, applauding slowly. He had a perfect view of the whole thing from the top of the advent chamber. The old man was really doing a number with Mr. Savior in the city.

He had to give the guy credit. He'd seen a lot of stuff in his life, and none of it could be considered normal. But using demonic power to pose as a god...it'd been done before, but this was the first time that Dante actually thought they did a good job. With a casual flick, the tail of his coat was swept away from his legs, and he began his trek through the ruined chamber.

First stop was the ascension chamber. From what Trish had told him, the device in there was what was giving the Order ranks their power. He originally intended to destroy it, but he saw that it was already totaled. The object had caught a lot of stray gunfire from the kid's sick piece, as well as his own. It wasn't going to be used anytime soon.

It seemed that someone forgot to lock the door. Scarecrow's had wandered in from who knows where. They turned at Dante's entrance, twittering in laughter as they began to advance.

_Time to go to work, girls..._

Back went the line of his coat, revealing his mismatched automatics, Ebony and Ivory. E&A were his own invention, two .45 automatics that were exactly the same, yet completely different. Each one had a woman's portrait on the handles, Ivory a fair haired beauty, Ebony a dark haired bitch. The color of the guns held true to their names; Ivory was polished chrome, Ebony deep black obsidian.

Dante pulled his guns up, turned them on the nearest demon and fired a rapid volley. It collapsed, riddled with wholes. Without skipping a beat, he began to pace across the room, targeting and re-targeting.

A scarecrow burst and fell over. Two more collapsed as Dante fired ahead and behind him. He curled his arm, firing behind his back at another, while his other popped a scarecrow in the face. The two handguns may as well have been machine gun's in his gloved hands as they mowed down the twitching group.

The last one fell as he neared the door. He gave his girls a few twirls, then sunk them into their holsters, grinning. He shoved on ahead to the meeting room.

A spinning entity covered in blades hurtled out of the upper balcony, followed by several more. They landed on the far side of the room, then began to spin like a wheel, whirling around the circular room straight at him.

He unslung Rebellion, and pointed it like a ball player. When the blades drew close, he cocked his leg up and swung. Metal met metal in a hot flash of sparks, and the blades flew back, colliding into the others and driving them into the ceiling.

_Outta here!_

The elegant table and chairs in the room where smashed as what turned out to be a bloated scarecrow covered in swords landed on it. The others pinballed around the room, shattering stone and decorations until they ground to a halt in the dust.

Dante propped his greatsword up on it's point. "Done?" he asked the mob of demons.

The rest of the demons uncurled themselves. That made three fuck-ugly scarecrows. Dante skated to the nearest one, bringing Rebellion down in three quick strokes. The demon dropped like a rock, spurting thick torrents of red blood that crystallized as it touched the ground. He launched himself at the second, driving the barbed point like a stinger into it's clammy burlap flesh. It flew back into the wall and flattened on impact.

He spun and cocked his sword back. "Freeze!" He chucked it, letting it fly like a propeller into the scarecrow's fat face. It spun there for a few seconds while he casually strode closer, then came sailing back boomerang style, his energy calling it like a magnet. The scarecrow tipped over, most of its body gone from Rebellion's assault.

Dante kicked through the next door and made his way to the elevator that would take him to the ground floor. He just hoped that-

-a piercing alarm began to cry out. Lights began to flash red. He sighed.

_Exactly what I _didn't_ want to happen. Now I'm going to have to run._

Trish mentioned something about a self-destruct, but Dante really wasn't listening. It was hard to, especially when she dressed like that. At any rate, he didn't want to be in the middle of an explosion. It might sting a bit.

He doubled timed it, cutting through the experiment disposal room. It was utter chaos. Either someone opened the cages, or the Order was too stupid to use adequate restraints. Two of the red crab things with black cloaks tried to pounce on him, but they quickly met the business end of Coyote-A. The modified barrels of the hunting shotgun annihilated both bug and cloak in a single blast.

The security hallway was almost laughable. He hadn't had a problem when he came through a few hours ago, and he certainly wasn't going to have a problem this time, either. Dante didn't even break his jog; he just kept going down the corridor at the same pace. He heard the hum of electricity, then snapped his fingers as the first laser fired.

Geryon's Quicksilver burned in his blood. Time began to lag as Dante shifted between phases. He simply jogged around the laser and continued on his way; the targeting system had no chance of tracking him at his current speed. More lasers began to fire, but before the beams could even begin to pierce through the air, Dante was passed them. The ability he'd taken from the timesteed years ago made it a walk in the park.

At the end of the hall, he clicked the Quicksilver off. The lasers fired where he'd been a microsecond before, burning nothing but empty ground. Dante grinned in triumph and made his way to the last hall in the building.

A phalanx of the created knights were waiting for him, four whites and a gold. Trish mentioned names, something like Blanco's or Ronso's...no wait, Biancos. And the gold ones were Tenors.

_Dammit, Altos. Not Tenors. I've gotta start paying more attention..._

The white Bianco's began their assault, sailing forward on wings, lances out. Dante met them in mid-air with Ebony and Ivory. He sailed past, holstering his guns and cutting through with Rebellion in one fluid move. Two Bianco's collapsed.

He landed and jabbed Coyote-A into the gut of the golden Alto. The gun chewed a hole into the armor, knocking it back onto the ground. The shotgun disappeared and Rebellion whirled around, spinning like a disc into a Bianco. He raked the blade across, cleaving the weakened armor in half. The last white knight managed a stab with its lance before receiving a few strikes and a few hundred stabs from Dante.

The Alto with the hole in its stomach was back up and preparing a charge, but Dante shot through the air, pretty much teleporting above it, coming down with Rebellion. The gold knight fell in halves.

The armor dissolved in Dante's passing as he left the hall. He got a few dozen feet out the door and an explosion burst from headquarters. The whole top half of the building erupted in smoke. Chunks of falling rock broke part of the bridge away, sending debris into the ocean far below.

Dante shrugged, shoving his coat away, then began to the trek across the long bridge to the forest. He had a couple stops to make, so it was going to be a bit before he got back to the city. Trish had given him all the details in her rushed briefing.

The Order managed to create three working Hell Gates in addition to the real one in the city. From what his blond partner revealed, they were being powered by Devil Arms. The plan was simple: head back to the city, and on the way, take down all three gates. He'd even pick up a few new Devil Arms on the way. Snag Yamato and take down the crazy old man and his giant toy, then pull the kid and his girl out of the corpse, and he was outta here!

Simple.

_All this for a favor...Lady, Lady, Lady...What happened to that spunky teenager who liked to blow stuff up? You grew up, filled out, got yourself a sweet pair of guns, and decided to enter the world of business._

Although blaming Lady was the easiest, it was far from fair. Trish played her own part in it. Snatching dad's sword like that may have been the easiest way into the Order's pants, but it made his life a hell of a lot harder. Why couldn't either of them just let him do things his way? He could've had Yamato by now.

Dante chuckled to himself, shaking his head. "Things always gotta be complicated..."

* * *

**Author's Note: Here's where we see the prologue of this story, non-game players. I'd just thought it'd be a little more interesting if I put that in the first chapter. I'd also like to warn you all of Dante's plan. He does intend to back track to all of the hell gates, meaning we get to see the first 11 chapters all over again. I'm still not sure how I'm going to do this, so be ready for anything. We'll get to see a bunch of familiar faces, and non-game players will get their first view of what a devil arm is. I hope I still have you all interested. Critiques are welcome!**


	14. The Devil Returns

**Chapter 13: The Devil Returns**

_Craaaap...what the hell is with my luck?_

It was raining. More of a downpour, really. The clear skies clouded up almost as soon as Dante grazed the edge of the forest. That struck him as slightly suspicious; mother nature didn't just decide to let go in a matter of seconds. The weather had been perfectly fair. Plus, the pea soup thick purple fog didn't seem too natural either.

At any rate, it was going to be a pain in the ass getting to the gate. The forest reeked of demons, and Dante could hardly see where the hell he was going. But he had to look on the bright side: leather didn't absorb water, so once the rain was over, he could start drying off.

The devil hunter began to push through the soaked foliage. The whole follow-the-sun trick was neat, but he could see past it now without a problem. He shoved a big fern out of his way-

-and a clawed arm swiped at his head, which he easily dodged by tipping his it back. Rebellion came off his back and cut into the foliage. There was a shriek and a spurt of blood as a corpse fell into view. It was a blade. Well, Dante called them blades, but Trish said the Order called them assaults. Point was, it was a big ass lizard with an attitude; it didn't matter what the hell anyone called it.

Another blade jumped from the tree line. Dante spun and poked it with his blade, flinging it into a tree, then finished it with E&A. About half a dozen then appeared, all bearing down on him. He skated through the mud, slicing and stabbing through the air with Rebellion. Three blades fell. Coyote-A howled, shearing off one's fugly helmet and head. The last two were kabobed on Rebellion as he drove it through both of them, then flung them off into the trees.

_I don't remember these guys having that many claws._

Indeed, something had combined with the blades. It was the little seed demons that he'd seen on his way through. Their tendrils were sunk into the reptiles like roots. There was a budded plant on their backs, from which flowed more tentacles, ended in scalpel-like blades. Dante loved surprises.

He left the deteriorating demons in the mud, then continued on his way. Although he believed he had an excellent sense of direction, Dante couldn't help getting a bit lost. He swore he saw the same set of ruins at least twice, and damn near walked off a cliff.

Finally, he found himself on what had to be the right path. The flow of energy was like a magnet to a compass for him. It was the gate, and it had to be open. Dante found himself walking up a ruined set of stairs carved into a hill, then in a small clearing.

_Finally!_

It was the gate alright, open with pockets of deep green light. He couldn't see the Devil Arm that was powering it, so it must have something to do with the thing that crawled out of the gate...or rather, as he noticed, slithered out.

There was a huge snake floating silently through the trees a ways off from the clearing. It looked like a cross between a dragon and a plant, strangely enough. Every so often, a scale would fall from its body and settle in the woods. It must be what was laying the demons that combined with the blades.

Dante waited for it to notice him and charge...and waited...and waited...

He furrowed his brow, irritated, then rushed forward to where a pack of scales were falling. He booted one, two, three of them back towards their mother with powerful kicks. The fourth, he leaped into the air and bicycle kicked. The seed shot like a rocket into the others, ricocheting off trees, sailing directly at the viper...

* * *

Echidna sensed that something was amiss. Her children were telling her something; they weren't settling properly. She emerged from her gullet, trying to locate the source of her offspring's discomfort.

_Thwack!_

Something rebounded off her skull, followed by three more hits. Her children?!

"**What the-**"

_THWACK!_

Another credible force came into contact with her delicate face, this one even harder. She roared in annoyance, then hissed through her fangs. An intruder! In her den! At first glance, it was the human that shamed her earlier, but then she looked closer. No, it was a different human; he didn't have that horrendous arm, but he still looked like a disgusting worm, clad in all red against the beautiful green of _her_ forest. The first was a mere child. This one was a full grown adult.

"**Who the hell are you?!**" she screeched.

The human turned to her. "Huh, it's about time I caught your attention..." he whined. "I was beginning to feel a little ignored."

Echidna hissed again. "**You may jest, but the kindest fate I have to offer is to unify...and spend eternity with a child of mine!**"

With that, Echidna fell back into her body, letting her senses trade over to her serpent's body, then dove for him. Her four segmented jaws opened wide. The human was too slow! She devoured him in a single bite; only a bit of his leg hung from between her teeth.

_So weak!_

She would swallow him whole, without so much as a fuss. His body would go to her children, so they could-

-a great pressure from within her mouth forced her jaws open. Aghast, Echidna heard the human's voice.

"As appealing as that sounds, I think I'll pass."

He simply hopped out of her mouth. Echidna retreated to the edge of her den, coming out from her gullet once again, suddenly unsure of the human.

"Though a fight every now and then does make life a more interesting." He raised his sword. "Don't ya think?"

Echidna swelled at his confidence, then lunged forward, hissing. She spun and twisted her body, lashing out with her tail. The human jumped over it, then pulled out two weapons. Firearms, she knew them well. The other had one as well. Hornet stings fell all over her body as he began to fire his weapons. She retracted into her throat, letting the dragon take over her senses.

Her jaws opened wide as they descended on him, but the she-viper tasted nothing but earth when they closed. He was off to the side, firing at her snout. Her outer body was much more armored, though, stronger than her feminine self. She twisted, plowing along the ground and tried to catch him in her jaws, but once again, he was too quick. The game of tag continued for a bit as he danced just out of reach of her jaws. His weapons could not penetrate her armor! She darted close, but the human once again skated to the side.

Something cut into her scales as she passed; the human's large sword. She felt the stroke cut cleanly through her armor. Such strength! Far too powerful to be a mere human...who was this man?

Echidna swooped into the sky and bloomed, then burrowed into the dirt. He would feel the blades of her tail. She extended her barbs, snaking them in the dirt beneath him, then made them sprout all around him like deadly flowers. The man was enveloped in her writhing coils, dancing between their deadly blades. She couldn't help but laugh in anticipation of spilled blood.

He would not escape like the boy had. She knew not of what magic he possessed, but this man seemed to have nothing of the sort. There were no visible cues, or flares of energy. As soon as she struck, it would be all over for him.

Suddenly, pain, in her third tendril. It was hewed in half, the part connected to her body a bloody stump. Echidna shrieked in outrage and pain. How dare he mangle her body?! Her thoughts were interrupted when the human cut into another part of her, then dashed straight for her, just as the other had done. She tried to pull herself out of the ground, but it took time for her coils to retract. By then, he was on her, cutting into her body.

Echidna screamed in pain again and managed to bat him off as she took to the air. Her torso was bleeding profusely from half a dozen cuts and puncture marks. She panted in agony from her wounds, then worked to release the surge of power that she kept within herself. Once she was nourished, the wounds would heal quickly.

This human would die. Her power blossomed, bathing her skin in a yellow light. The hue of her eyes went from pale white to deep red. The air pressure around her began to lower as she drew energy from her surroundings, the sky growing dark with clouds that began to rumble.

She swooped low and curled her body, then snapped her tail again. When he avoided it, she lashed out with the filaments on her head. They cracked loudly like whips, but still, the man was able to dodge them. No matter, her entire body was a weapon.

Scales along her body began to raise, hardening like rocks. She learned her lesson to not throw her children into battle against and unknown foe. This time, she was going to fire empty eggs. Her tail coiled behind her, she released them, the dark red pods speeding like bullets.

The human disappeared in the resulting cloud of dust, and for a moment, Echidna believed that she was victorious. But then he popped out of the cloud, completely unscathed. In her disbelief and fury, she screamed and dove straight at him, claws and fangs ready to rend his flesh.

* * *

The snake woman flashed, turning a shade of piss-yellow. It was impressive, but Dante could tell that she was getting pretty reckless. She dove again, this time not bothering to sink back into her body.

_Big mistake_.

Dante lunged forward, shoving Rebellion into a stinger, meeting her head on. The great snake was stopped in her tracks, blade through her gut. He wrenched it out with a spray of blood, then watched her sag to the ground with her mortal wound.

"**My forest...**" she wailed. "**My children...**"

Dante pulled Ivory and fired a single shot, sinking the round right between her eyes. The serpent froze, then exploded with a cry into a brown cloud of dust and withered plant foliage.

"I think that look suits you better," chuckled Dante.

He could see the Devil Arm, in its soul form, as the gate closed back into stone. They were a tricky sort of thing, Devil Arms; weapons created from the soul and body of a greater demon. If you weren't careful, they could try to possess you, or kill you if they sat around too long. Dante had had enough of swords flying through his chest. But this Arm looked fairly docile. It simply floated above a conduit in the door, a simple ball of yellow light.

He called the ball of light that was the soul to his hand, then let it take it's physical form. "One down..."

The light washed over his body, focusing mostly on his hands and feet. When it vanished, the Devil Arm had emerged. Dante had to admit he was mildly disappointed.

_Oh, another one of these._

It was a set of gauntlets and greaves, made of a glowing metal that seemed to shift like mercury. A new and fairly unattractive addition was a set of shoulder pads that held a face mask over his jaw, which he retracted quickly. Dante flexed his hands and large drill apparatus' melted out from the wrists of the gauntlets instantly, solid as steel. At his feet, in the heel of the greaves like stirrups, were a pair of buzzsaws.

He heard the spirit of the former demon whisper its name in his mind: Gilgamesh

_Well, I guess Beowulf and Ifrit aren't like this._

Beggars couldn't be choosers. Dante clunked up to the gate and spread his legs into a royal guard stance. He exhaled slowly, bringing his arms up into a fighter's stance, then slowly waved them, testing the weight of his new weapon; the metal was as light as air. He put the tips of his fingers of his right hand to the stone gate, then paused, breathing deeply.

"Heeya!"

Dante closed his fist and socked the door with a kiyap. Even from three inches away, the base cracked, sending lines up the length of it that gradually widened. Great splinters of stone began to fall as the gate collapsed on itself. Dante jumped up, fire from his boots and gauntlets propelling him like a missile meeting the debris head on. He hammered through through chunks of rock with his fists as if they were paper. Halfway up, he inverted, letting the saws on his boots rip more stone apart in hot slashes. He popped out of the wreckage, then turned in the air, falling to the ground as stone and dust flew everywhere.

He landed, growling like a fighter as the slices of gate piled up behind him in a neat stack. With a quick flick of his nose, he flipped into the air, coming down with a sizzling karate chop that sliced through the stack like a knife through butter.

What was left of the gate vaporized, incinerated from the wash of heat from Gilgamesh. Dante raised his fist, admiring it. Perhaps he'd underestimated his new toy.

"...two to go," he finished, then walked out of the clearing.

* * *

**Author's Note: This chapter was a lot shorter than I thought it was going to be. As well as it should be, I believe. The son of Sparda should have no problem taking these demons out. Echidna didn't even manage to scratch him. Just as Dante was, I was disappointed in Gilgamesh. This is the third variant of the gauntlet/greave weapon, and while it is fun, it was getting a little old, imo. One gate down, two to go. What will Dante find at the other gates? For those of you who don't already know, keep reading!**


	15. The Forest of Ruin

**Chapter 14: The Forest of Ruin**

Nero shoved against the wet, greasy wall with all of his strength. It mashed all around him, constantly throbbing with movement. Devil Bringer tried to purr, to give off light in the near pitch black surroundings. Red Queen was glued to his back, her fiery exceed useless anyways in such a close area; there wasn't even room to swing her properly. He fear he might lose her altogether if she slipped from her sling.

It reeked. It smelled like ass all around him, and there wasn't a goddamned thing he could do about it. He tried to make Devil Bringer glow, anything for a brief glimpse of light. The demonic limb seemed to agree; it pulsed ever so briefly, casting out a light blue glow.

He was buried in what felt like a coffin of flesh. Veined walls throbbed with life, mere inches away from his face. Devil Bringer's glow was over in an instant, exhausted without Yamato, his power. It had all been taken from him, and now he was sealed inside the behemoth.

With a frustrated cry of effort, he forced another burst from his right arm. The hideous tomb appeared again. What had to have been a sphincter or a valve closed above him.

Then it went dark again.

* * *

Dante's right fist sank deep into the knitted face of a hapless scarecrow, blowing a hole clean through it. One vaulted into the air, spinning like a trapeze artist with legs made of scythes. The devil hunter spun and kicked, letting the saws on his feet cut lines across it, then booted it out of the clearing like a ball.

This was his third encounter with a pack of demons, and to be honest, Dante was getting a little sick of it. There was nothing left for him to do in the forest except leave, which wasn't going to be a problem, but he kept bumping into things. It wasn't like he _had_ to fight everything, but there was no way in hell he'd be caught running away from something.

Besides, he was having fun.

With that in mind, he finished pounding the last few scarecrows into the ground, then continued on his way, following the river. Five minutes later, a group of blades decided to join him. Four of the demonic lizards bounded through the foliage, claws outstretched. He caught the first one with Gilgamesh's rocket propelled drill, uppercutting it into the air. As two more lunged in the wake of the first, Dante skitted back, then raised his leg and dropped it onto the helmet of one of the beasts. The other he simply punted with a right hook.

The last of the lizards attacked, but Dante simply ducked underneath it. He pulled Coyote-A from the small of his back and spun it around. He fired three separate times, each volley into a different blade. The one he'd ducked, the one sailing away, and the one falling from his uppercut each received a load.

Dante spun his shotgun on his finger, then holstered it, grinding one heavy boot into the lifeless lizard beneath him.

_They just don't know when to quit._

After a bit, he left the river, then headed west. Through the canopy, Dante could just make out the cliffs that lead to the waterfall, which in turn held the bridge that would lead back to Fortuna Castle. That was his next stop: the gate that created all the snow and ice.

More blades attacked.

It was funny, when he thought about it after the beat down. If he'd just taken the time to thoroughly search the castle, he could have avoided this whole thing. It would have been just a matter of taking Yamato, then waiting for Trish to recover the Sparda. In and out, no problem. Now he had to put up with an old geezer with a god complex.

_That's what I get for being lazy._

More blades attacked. Dante spun on his heels, delivering a rapid volley of kicks that sent the lizards sprawling. He caught one up against a tree, then assaulted it with his right leg, mashing it into the bark again and again, finishing it with a roundhouse that broke tree and demon in half.

After all of them were dead, Dante sensed a tremble in the dirt. The ground opened up, revealing a hideous, worm-like creature with sprawling jaws that sucked the corpses up as they disintegrated. He immediately recognized it as a fault, a pesky demon that liked to butt in in the middle of a fight. As luck would have it, it was late to the party.

The worm tried to pop up beneath him, but the stupid creature was easily outwitted when Dante skated back, then rocketed forward, propelled by Gilgamesh, driving his gauntlet deep into the demon's soft flesh. It sagged in the hole it made and went still.

After about another hour of demon smashing, Dante finally made it to the cliffs. A few chimera blades gave him some beef before he could start to climb up the face. Once they were taken care of, he made his way through the path, eventually coming to the spot where he bumped into Nero. Behind him, down the foliage covered path, lay the cave that he sought.

Through the murky tunnel he went, until he stepped out onto the bridge that spanned the plunge between the mountains and the castle. As soon as he stepped onto the balcony of the castle, the bridge rumbled. The device that controlled its length activated, and the long stone path retracted into the mountainside. There was a brief pause, then the dams above the cliff raised, freeing the river that they redirected, sending the deafening water into the abyss and covering the entrance to the forest.

Dante took a deep breath. It was a nice change from the muggy forest; crisp, cold, fresh air. At least it should have been. He picked up a new smell, one that stunk bad.

It smelled like a demon.

* * *

**Author's Note: Ugh, I know what you're all thinking: too short. Truth is, NOTHING happens in this chapter. It's nice to get aquainted with Gilgamesh, but we've already been through Mitis Forest. We don't learn anything new, and the beginning part I added with Nero is something I scrapped from mission 11's cutscene. Don't worry, I'll hopefully more than make up for it with Pandora next chapter. Start the countdown, only five chapters left. UPDATE: I put a poll in my profile, DMC related. Need your guidance, readers.**


	16. Fortuna Castle

**Chapter 15: Fortuna Castle**

The blizzard was about to kick in again. It was so dark, it may as well have been night. Dante strolled along one of the inner courtyards of the castle. The place reminded him of the castle from Mallet Island a few years back. Always interested in architecture, Dante took his time in his surroundings, despite his rush to get things done.

_Mallet Island wasn't this nice, that's for sure._

He passed a small balcony jutting out from the courtyard. A distant bolt of thunder rumbled. Even Dante knew that lightening and thunder during a snowstorm was uncommon, though not far from nonexistent. Just the way it sounded gave it away.

A clap of lightening sounded close, striking one of the tall steeples that surrounded the balcony. When it cleared, there was a sleek, muscular creature clinging to it. It's body was covered by strips of white armor, probably it's own bones, and striped with bulging muscles. Yellow lightening constantly arced over it's body. It looked, in a word, pretty cool.

"Heh, yeah..." Dante whispered in approval.

The demon seemed to perk up at his words, then shuddered as it the crackling of energy intensified. It flashed, vanishing, then appeared on the balcony before Dante in the blink of an eye. It flashed again, then again, and again...it vanished and reappeared dozens of times in the air, always in a different spot, until it lunged for the devil hunter suddenly.

Dante was already bringing Rebellion down to meet it, but it disappeared again just as the blade was about to connect; the blade struck nothing but stone. The demon popped to half a dozen locations before stopping a few meters from him.

_Oooohh baby...he's got a bit of bite on him...now what do I call your fugly face?_

Even though he didn't hit the demon, he felt a tingle of electricity through his blade as it passed close. The demon roared and stretched its arms; a bolt of lightening shot out from it into the castle steeples, shattering them.

_...blitzen? Nah, just blitz._

He'd also gotten a good look at it's mug; he didn't see any eyes, which meant that it hunted on sound or smell, or a combination of the two.

The blitz went into a frenzy of jumps, appearing all over the courtyard for no more than a second at a time. Dante didn't move, instead letting his eyes do the tracking. On the next pass it made, it paused for a second longer, then dove with outstretched claws. Dante skated to the side and whipped out Ebony & Ivory, giving it a brief volley. The rounds connected with a flurry of sparks, then the demon went into another spazz of teleporting.

It appeared above him. Dante fired. To the left; he fired again. It popped to his right, and he ducked under a wide swipe, then returned fire. It was all around him, appearing and reappearing again and again. Dante spun, skated, and turned in circles around the balcony, firing in each dizzying direction.

With a whirl of his red coat, he clipped it as it appeared, then prepared to move again. It suddenly vanished. The only sound was the last report from Ebony's barrel. Then, he felt the tingling in his skin, and his hair standing up on end. Dante leaped back as the the blitz appeared on top of him, sending sprays of electricity into the air.

It paused for a second too long, giving the devil hunter all the time he needed to unload his guns into it. The beast stumbled, electricity flickering weakly. Then, it fizzled out entirely. Dante bolted forward, opening up Gilgamesh's exhaust ports. He pummeled the demon with his fists and legs, ending with a duo of kicks that knocked it up into the air.

When it crumpled to the ground, Dante drew his fist back. The rocket burned furiously on it, but he held it in check with his strength. He thrust his fist forward in an uppercut, socking the blitz in the gut. Propelled by strength and fire, he soared upward, drilling into the bone armor of the demon.

At the apex of the flight, the blitz tumbled away, roaring in pain. It's electricity crackled back, but this time it was colored red. It flew into a frenzy, popping up everywhere over the balcony, occasionally taking the time to leap at Dante or take a wild swipe at him.

Dante, slid past it as it barreled by with its arms outstretched, firing into its back, but then ceased. The blitz spasmed violently, then simply exploded.

He shrugged his coat back into place and holstered E&A, then continued on the walkway from the inner courtyard to the castle interior.

_Well, that's a bit of a problem..._

The castle grand hall was frozen solid; literally. It looked like a glacier had settled in, covering the entire hall with a slab of ice. Leaving the castle was impossible, and finding the next gate was going to be a lot harder. Dante thought hard. Demons were probably crawling all over the place, so maybe they broke through a few walls. If he was lucky, he could maybe work around the ice.

He worked his way around the glacier, moving to the next door on the balcony. Past it was what used to be an art gallery. It looked like someone took a table saw to the walls and floor. What looked like a giant child's top lay fallen in the middle, except this top was covered in blades.

Through the yard outside, Dante moved into the library, which was also trashed. Inside, he was ambushed by a battalion of Bianco and Alto knights.

Hammering the armor with Gligamesh was fun, and extremely easy. But Dante soon noticed something else that was a lot easier. Two remaining Biancos and an Alto grouped together. Dark energy flowed between them, collecting into a sphere. He watched further, intrigued, as the sphere took off, aiming straight for him. With a spin and a kick, he booted it back like a ball. The resulting explosion took the wall down behind the knights, vaporizing them in the process.

Dante was right; there was a large hole in the library wall that to a secret passage. Down a set of stone spiral stairs, he found himself emerging from behind a mirror in the large U-hallway. More ice had sealed off the passageway, so Dante had to cut through another door into the dining room. The path later emerged further into the U-shaped hallway, behind the ice.

After a quick fight with a stray frost duo in the castle torture chamber, and almost a spill down a huge hole in the floor, Dante made his way up to the second level of the castle, doubling back through the second floor of the torture chamber. After he passed through the master's bedroom, he was right where he wanted to be: outside.

As soon as he pushed open the door to the innermost courtyard, the smell he noticed before became overwhelming. He pressed a hand to his nose, but then heard the sexy giggling...

* * *

Dagon sat veiled in the snow. His lures danced in the courtyard. He'd attracted the attention of human prey, and soon, he would feast on his flesh. It was disappointing to see that it wasn't the same human who slew his brother, Bael, but no matter. Bael had been weak, and not fully mature. His lures had been a childish blue, instead of their full, voluptuous red.

He made the false woman dance, run their hands over their bodies, anything to invite the human in closer. The invisible toad noted that he was armed; a set of gauntlets and greaves. No doubt the soul of another demon.

_So, this one is strong...but not very smart...easy prey..._

The human whistled approvingly at the lures as they began to mime the act of passion. "Baby, yeah! Hahaha...alllriiight!"

_He's actually coming closer!_

Dagon could hardly contain his excited tremblings as the human slid on the ice like a skater, eager to see more of the provocative forms and acts. The human leaned in close, observing the enormous chest of one of his rusalka.

"Nice!" The rusalka made an attempt to grab him, but the human had already quickly turned away, intoxicated by their forms. "Sweet!" he exclaimed, leaning back to check out the rear of the rear end of the other. He flirted with another as it tried to embrace him again in its icy kiss, completely oblivious. He sat down and leaned back, enjoying the show.

_Now!_

Dagon leaped from his veil, jaws opened wide, ready to taste the sweet flesh of his prey, to feel the crunch of bone beneath his teeth. But all he tasted was dirt, snow and ice. The human had jumped away, simply vanishing to another spot.

"**What?!**" he shouted in anger and surprise. "**How did you know?!**"

"You can hide that body," the human said, "but that smell...Hoo! There's no coverin' up!"

Dagon's gullet swelled in indignation and rage. "**Insult me one more time and I will make you suffer more than you thought possible!**"

He screamed in rage, the wind of his breath flapping the human's red coat up over his face. The human flipped it back down with a laugh.

"I'd actually like to see you try that!"

The frozen toad shook it's body, great ice fragments falling off his crown and into the air like bombs. The human paused for an instant, then began to weave in between them. Somewhere in his moves, two guns appeared in his hands, shooting more of the ice chunks out of the air.

Dagon didn't give the human a chance to rest; he _would_ devour him. He coiled his hind legs, then launched forward, jaws wide. The human darted back, once again surprisingly fast, keeping himself just out of range, then rammed a fist into Dagon's chin.

The impact racked his whole body in pain. Surprised at how hot the blow felt, he shuddered and hesitated, which allowed the human to drive a kick straight up, knocking him up and over onto his back. His icy crown cracking under his weight, Dagon rolled off his back, infuriated at how easily he'd been toppled. He gulped a breath of air, letting his saliva freeze inside his mouth, then spat it out with a roar.

This time, the attack was going to connect, he was sure of it. But the human surprised him once again by _blocking _the chunks with his gauntlets, warding them away effortlessly without even moving his feet. Flabbergasted, he breathed again, then began to veil himself in the blizzard, but not before receiving a load of stinging bullets to his face.

Eventually, his veil was complete, and even this human could not see or hit him. He sent his rusalka out to subdue him. All they had to do was grab him, and it would be finished.

The fake red women descended upon him, their thick strands of hair forming into icy blades. They jerked back when he tried to strike, far to nimble for him to land a clean hit with his fists or boots. Then, the moment Dagon had been waiting for happened: a rusalka wrapped its arms and legs around the human, then encased him in a web of ice.

Dagon grinned wide, then began to peak out of his veil. He hoped that the human saw him and feared his death. With a kick from his legs, he sailed through the air, jaws wide open-

-the human exploded into a blaze of red light. For a brief moment, Dagon was sure that he saw the shape of a human, but it had taken on demonic characteristics. It was gone in the next instant, but he was more focused on the flaming boot aimed at his chin...

* * *

The toad put up a hell of a fight, but the last kick from Gilgamesh sent it sailing across the courtyard with a crash.

"**Don't think this is the end!**" it growled as it turned to face him again clumsily, "**There are more of us!**"

Dante ripped Rebellion off his back. He'd been ignoring his favorite sword. Silently, he sailed through the air, coming straight down on the toad, cutting it down the middle with a single, clean strike. It froze, literally, as it's body became ice, then shattered into a cloud of cold dust.

The gate was on the other end of the courtyard. Rather than walking through the mist of ex-toad, Dante simply called the soul powering the gate over to him. The glowing orb settled in his hand, then grew, becoming boxier. The light faded away, revealing the physical form of the Devil Arm.

It was a sleek suitcase, with glowing streams of energy running through it like veins. Dante rapped his fist on it. It felt like polished steel, colored purple. A skull engraved on both panels grinned wickedly. Already, the soul was whispering in his mind, like a chaotic storm. What seemed like an endless stream of designs and schematics briefly flashed through his mind. He caught a name: Pandora.

"He wasn't kidding," Dante chuckled, then slung Pandora over his shoulder casually. "It's like an all you can eat buffet!"

The dust from the toad's body had cleared. Even more toads were packed into the courtyard, apparently having come from the gate when he wasn't looking. There had to be at least a dozen of them. They all looked at Dante hungrily, their feelers waving excitedly, pools of green spit flowing from their jaws.

However, they began to jump at each other, each of them daring another to try to take the first bite, yet wanting to claim their prey for their own. Soon, they completely forgot about the devil hunter, focusing only on the mindless squabble. Big mistake.

He raised Pandora above his head, then slammed it to the ground.

_PF262: Jealousy._

The purple case glowed brilliantly and vibrated in his hand. It stretched, contorted, then settled all in under a second. The glow vanished, revealing a compact mini-gun. Dante opened fire, sending a stream of bullets at the pack of toads. By firing just in front of them, he made the front most retreat, culling them into the other end of the courtyard.

_PF124: Hatred_

The mini-gun dissolved in another glow of light. Dante lifted the shifting case over his shoulder. It widened out, becoming a cylinder. What felt like a million interlocking parts clicked and connected. The cylinder elongated, spinning and shifting, then locked into place with three large barrels, transforming into a massive rocket launcher.

Dante fired a salvo of three rockets deep into the pack. The resulting explosion lifted every toad off the ground in a blaze of fire.

_PF422: Grief_

The same way it unfolded, Pandora retracted. More parts interlocked as mass folded within itself, compressing into a large disc. Dante even spied a few exposed gears as he spun and chucked the still forming device into the air. Three large blades unfolded from the disc as it spun into the airborne toads, cutting through their bodies as it made a full circle around the yard. The demonic boomerang/frisbee returned to the devil hunter's hands, then began to change again.

_PF594: Argument_

Dante tucked the changing disc behind him. Two circles grew, enveloping him, then formed a block behind him. The gyroscopic circles straightened, ammo cases sliding into places at regular intervals, barrels growing out of them. The block behind Dante molded into a seat, and a series of thrusters picked the craft up off the ground. Controls morphed into his hands. Dante grinned, then pressed the triggers.

Dozens of missiles launched from every barrel of the pod, shooting wildly into the sky. They twisted and spiraled frantically as they locked onto their target, then descended into the courtyard. In a massive blast, the pack of toads were incinerated, along with the Hell Gate.

Dante placed the now normal looking Pandora on the ground and placed his boot on top of it triumphantly. But not before the weapon whispered one last time in his mind.

_PF666: Omen._

Pandora's latches released, the front of the case falling open. A bright glow glared from within. Curiously Dante leaned over to look inside.

_Whoa! Bad idea!_

He slammed his foot down, shutting the case, breathing a sigh of relief. That was a close one. However, the Devil Arm had already done it's thing. The ground weakened beneath his feet, then caved in, sending him into blackness.

* * *

**Author's Note: If you didn't see it in the last chapter, the poll in my profile is still open. I need your suggestions for a new DMC fic. I would reeeaaaalllly like it if you guys voted. What can I say about Pandora? A very interesting weapon from Capcom. 666 forms, basically an army in a box. We get to see 7. For those of you who didn't know, we now know the name of the toad (or frog, whatever) that Nero fought. Up next, one last gate, one last devil arm, and one very weird scene. You know what I'm talking about.**


	17. Inferno

**Chapter 16: Inferno**

Dante fell for quite a long ways into what seemed like a bottomless pit. Despite this, when he did hit the metal grating that served as the floor, his body easily absorbed the impact. It appeared he'd fallen into a ventilation shaft for the hidden laboratory. Funny thing was, he finally found the lab.

"Oh great..." he complained.

Above him, a set of thick blast doors slid into place, plunging the room further into darkness. Below him, past the metal grate whirled a great fan. This fan now slowed, until the wide arcs became completely motionless. Within a few seconds, the air, already reeking from who knows what, became even more permeated. Some gas was wafting up from the bowels of the facility, and it smelled poisonous.

"...as if I didn't have enough obstacles already."

Dante placed his hands on his hips and grumbled, thoroughly irritated. At any rate, obstacles or not, he had to get moving. The gas wouldn't really affect him, but he didn't want to be breathing an alternative to air anytime soon. The first thing he did was will Gilgamesh back into his body. He'd had enough of the familiar weapon. The physical form of the gauntlets and greaves vanished, becoming light that simply melted into his body, replaced by his usual shooting gloves and boots.

He picked up Pandora from where he set it when landed, and started moving. As soon as he opened the first door, he bumped into another Order creation. The long tubular hall was home to a trio of what appeared to be fish. Only these fish swam through the ground with bladed fins and bodies. They circled the devil hunter ominously, then one leaped out of the ground.

_PF013: Epidemic_

Pandora shifted in Dante's hands, lengthening, folding out not one, but two crosspieces, forming into a twisted crossbow. He pulled the trigger, and a projectile lanced out, striking the fish in mid-air and exploding on contact. The demon burst into a scaly, fleshy mess of gore before the remnants vanished, leaving only crystallizing blood.

Dante rolled away from another fish as it came down on him from behind. The third tried the same maneuver as the first, but this time, he threw Pandora in its Grief form. The bladed frisbee neatly slicing off the bullet shaped head before returning to his hand.

The last one skimmed through the ground, its dorsal fin looking to take off a leg, but he easily slid to the side and skewered the demon on the tip of Rebellion. He yanked it out of the ground and into the air, then freed his sword and drew it back like a bat, then cracked the demon as it descended. His energy coated blade sliced through its body, sending both halves sailing down the hall, where they gave a brief twitch, then dissolved.

The door at the end of the hall didn't have anything surprising for him, just more Order freaks. This time, it was the swords that flew around like birds. Once again using Pandora's Grief, he sent the disc into the air, then drew Ebony and Ivory. He twisted around, firing volleys with each gun at the demons, swatting them out of the air as the Devil Arm sliced through more.

When more shot forward like darts, or spun like fans, Dante holstered his girls, then whipped out Coyote-A. He spun the shotgun around and around, the barrels cracking like fireworks in the enclosed room. The demons closest to the gun were shredded apart as the buckshot ripped through them. Just as one more fell, Pandora came sailing around, slicing through the last two before folding back into its case form in Dante's hand.

He got his first breath of clean, fresh air after the containment room. Judging by the equipment and the strong, dissipating aura he felt, he guessed that's where Yamato was before Nero took it. After taking in the sweet view of the waterfall that led to the forest, he moved up a level, then ran the gauntlet again.

This time, the parts of the lab were infested with the white and gold knights. All of them fell easily to either his sword, or the Hatred or Epidemic forms of Pandora. Eventually, he made a big circle, and came out on top of the blast doors that had sealed above him. He was able to leap up to the next floor, which led to a passageway.

_Oh, so that's where the entrance was._

Dante came out where the giant portrait of the old priest was hanging, only now it and the wall behind him were destroyed. If he'd have known that, he would of happily smashed through it himself. He hadn't noticed it before, since the ice covered most of the room. But now, the glacier had disappeared, and he was free to leave the castle.

He pushed through the massive double doors. The sky was still clouded over, the area still dark, but the snow had stopped. Over the silence, there was the sound of soft footsteps in the snow.

_Not feet, more like paws..._

The he saw it bounding towards him. At first he thought it was a wolf, but then he realized that a wolf didn't have that many sharp edges; at least a normal wolf. This one was jet black, and had what looked like spikes jutting out of its limbs, even forming a spiked collar around it's neck.

Its head was the weirdest; it almost looked hollow. From within burned a skull that seemed to be made of liquid fire.

Dante spread his arms, almost welcoming it like a pet dog, but it stopped suddenly, grinding to a halt in the snow. With a growl, followed by a throaty growl, it opened its jaws and shot a ball of fire.

In a red blur, Dante shifted to the side, the projectile sizzling past and hitting part of the castle behind him with a loud puff. "Alright...C'mon."

The wolf reared back its head, a jet of flame shooting first from the tail, then its belly. What sounded vaguely like a gun reloading, the lantern like head ignited, chambering another fireball. The wolf growled menacingly, crouching low to the ground. Another bounded into the yard, then another. Soon, a total of five had gathered in a semi-circle around the devil hunter.

All of them opened up, launching a volley of fire. Dante jump straight up, the balls passing beneath him, leaving crisscrossing trails in the snow. He landed in slush, already changing Pandora into its Hatred form, then fired the three rocket volley. The demons were quick, and scattered as soon as they saw the threat. Pandora left a hole, but no bodies.

Hatred turned to Jealousy. Dante spun the mini-gun up and sprayed a line of bullets across a pair circling, cutting them in half. Whatever was inside of them ignited, making the remains burst into flames.

A wolf jumped at him, releasing its attack as it came down. Dante turned away, feeling the heat of the fire singe his face, then swung Rebellion, batting it to the ground in a heap. He followed up with two more quick strokes, ensuring that it would stay down.

He whirled the blade around his head and body, clipping the fourth. It let out a very wolfish yip before it stumbled, only to be slaughtered by a barrage of strokes from Rebellion. The remaining one had time to fire again, but the crossbow folded out of Pandora, and Dante fired an explosive round into it, blowing it ash.

_VERY disappointing!_

Dante had to admit he was looking for a little more from the Order's creations. At least the knights looked cool, but the flying swords, and now the devil dogs, were pushovers.

Most of what had to be the staircase up the cliff was destroyed, only ruins set in their rocky foundation. But sill, Dante was able to find a way up. He easily traversed the ancient platforms and stairs, occasionally hopping on the cliffs themselves.

He reached the top of the snow covered path, then began his trek to the caves. The mines he found on the outskirts of the city led straight to the castle. He couldn't have asked for a better route. He guessed that it was the same way the kid got there; either that, or he had wings. The fact that the mines were void of demons strengthened that theory. It looked like someone had cut their way through.

He was already feeling the heat as he neared the exit to the mines.

* * *

Berial stood on his four hooves, looking at the figure in the sky with contempt.

"**A human, posing as God?**" he muttered to himself. "**How ridiculous...**"

"Ya don't say?" chirped a bright voice.

In amazement, Berial turned his head. How could someone or something sneak up on him without him noticing?

"**What the...**"

There was a human sitting on his flaming tail, casually fanning himself as if the raging flames were nothing more than mid summer's heat. Furiously, Berial whipped his tail, expecting him to fly off into the wall. But somehow, the human managed to stay perched. He thrashed again, this time vertically, and still the human remained. He even seemed to be laughing in enjoyment.

But at last, as Berial smashed his tail into a rocky outcropping, the human jumped off, spinning through the air. Some of his clothes had caught fire.

"Wish you would've noticed me earlier," the human muttered, batting at the flames licking up his coat. "Now my coat's all charred!"

Finally, Berial recognized the human.

"**The infamous son of Sparda...**" he breathed in excitement. "**I will avenge my compatriots slain by your sword!**" He roared in contest, then lifted his claymore. He couldn't have wished for a better situation. The offspring of Sparda would die by his hand.

He swung down, the mighty molten sword aimed directly for him. At the last instant, Dante rolled to the side, unaffected by the torrents of earth that erupted from the ground. At the same time, Berial felt something sting his face, something much stronger than that other human's puny gun. The resulting explosion from the projectile even made him turn his head. When he looked back, the son of Sparda was holding a much larger weapon.

_So, he will not fight honorably. Only a sign of his own weakness!_

Berial laughed the attack off and swung again, leaving a trail of fire across the ground. Dante leaped up and over it, then brought the hated sword, Rebellion, around. He did not anticipate the pain from such an unremarkable blade. He stumbled back and swung, pushing the half breed back, then roared in anger, his brilliant wings burning white hot.

To his fury, Dante clapped his hands. "Hey, wassup?" he taunted.

Berial jumped forward, striking again. When the son of Sparda dodged, he tried to shoulder his projectile weapon again. Berial jumped up, striking and spinning, shaking the earth as he landed. He was sure he felt his blade connect the half breed. To his joy, he saw him spiraling through the air. But joy turned to dismay when he straightened himself in mid-air the weapon in his hand changing, enveloping him. The next thing he knew, a barrage of missiles were sailing at him.

Berial covered himself with his arms, then felt the impacts, each like a dagger wound against his body. The concussive blasts disoriented him, causing him to stumble on his legs. When he looked, Dante was waiting for him, jumping up to slash him across the face. The barbed tip of his sword nearly splice through a yellow eye.

This time, roaring in pain and not anger, Berial clutched his face, then blindly charged forward, hoping to catch the son of Sparda between him and the rock face. He plowed his shoulder into the wall, but Dante had vanished to his side, once again taunting him. Berial swung his sword, dragging it across the cliff in the process, leaving a deep trench.

The son of Sparda blocked the blow with his own blade, then charged up the flat side like a ramp. He jumped off and drove his feet into his face, which, despite his relative size, was extremely painful. As Dante succumbed to gravity, he slashed again, and Berial felt a long streak of pain down his torso. Like an exclamation, the son of Sparda rammed his sword into his gut.

With a last heave of strength, Berial shoved him off and collapsed, using the point of his sword as a crutch. "**You surpass my abilities,**" he gasped. "**How **_**shameful.**_"

"You can stay and die," Dante said, "or you can walk your ugly ass back through that gate! It's your call, pal!"

Berial laughed, already feeling the torrent of his power rushing through him. "**I've retreated once, and will not do so again...**"

It was reckless and stupid, but it had to work. The son of Sparda _would_ die!

* * *

Dante could see it coming a mile away. Berial spread his arms and roared in a flash of fire, then, like a rocket, came hurtling at him, jaws wide open.

Ivory interjected with a single, crisp shot. Berial exploded, turning into a million embers that flickered and died.

"That's a letdown," Dante griped. "I was hoping for more than just a few sparks."

The soul burned on the gate. Dante walked over to it and took it in his hand. The ball of light crawled up his arm and settled on his back, where it pulsed for a moment, then began to extend.

Two wide metal beams stretched, like axillars of a demonic bird's wing, only there were no feathers or skin. The wings connected to a skull latched onto his shoulder like a pauldron. The entire armature stretched, a wingspan easily six feet when they were folded behind him. Like a gargoyle, the wings had talons at the wrist.

The soul, Lucifer, began to speak in his mind. It was like a fiery lust building up within him. Dante leaped into the sky.

"First, I whip it out!"

He took hold of the talons, removing them from the Devil Arm. They glowed, long, red spikes in his hands.

"Then I thrust it!"

He hurled one set of spikes at the gate, forming an arc along it. Like a crazed bird, he flitted close, jamming the other three in a similar arc opposite to the first.

"With great force!"

He pushed away from the gate, then began to throw more and more spikes in a frenzy. Lucifer constantly regenerated its talons as they were removed again and again. Dante had an endless supply of stakes.

"Every angle..."

The lower curve formed, a string of deep crimson on black stone.

"...it penetrates!"

More spikes, another curve.

"Untill..."

One last spike, the lower arch was finished.

"...with great strength..."

Six spikes, three in each hand, Dante somersaulted in mid-air and pitched them.

"I _ram_ it in!"

They stuck into place; it was ready to climax. All it need was one final touch. One last spike released from Lucifer, and Dante hurled it to the center, then landed. A blood red rose was clutched tightly between his teeth. A glowing heart was etched in spikes on the gate behind him.

"In the end, we are all satisfied..." Dante said, then clapped his hands. The spikes exploded in a fury, cutting the heart out of the gate until it stood balanced on it's point. He gently tossed the rose, letting it kiss the end of the remaining spike in the center. "...and you are set free."

The spike popped, and the heart cracked down the middle, falling in halves. When the dust cleared, he saw the Savior floating in the sky above the city. His final target...

"You don't look so big from where I'm standing," Dante said to himself as he raised a hand to compare, then clenched his fist. "Now it's just you and me, Mr. Savior."

* * *

**Author's Note: I am seriously running out of steam! Just one last backtrack chapter, and then we're almost done. If you liked the Lucifer scene, you'll love the scene in the next chapter. Also, that poll is still up in my profile, for those of you who didn't vote yet and would still like to. I'll probably leave it up until this is done.**


	18. Adagio for Strings

**Chapter 17: Adagio for Strings**

Like a dancer, Dante spun, then stabbed one of Lucifer's roses into the face of a scarecrow. It stumbled slightly, almost oblivious to the weapon jutting from its skull. He skipped away, then clapped his hands. The rose in the scarecrow exploded, as did the twenty or so that he'd stuck in the other demons circling him, ripping them all to shreds.

The docks were infested with both demons and Order creations. Each side ferociously battled each other, but were more than happy to take a time out and attack the devil hunter. Every so often, a cheap shot would get thrown into the mix, and both sides would return to attacking each other. This made it easy for Dante to maneuver through, sticking both demon and knight alike with spikes, then blowing them to hell.

The last pier held a trio of knights. After gracefully sliding past the throttled charge of one, he ripped out a handful of roses, then tossed them into the air. Using Lucifer's power, he summoned them upon the knight, their points aimed from all angles, then called them down. The knight was pierced from every direction, then exploded in a crimson light.

Dante bowed low under the gold Alto's blade, then spun, jabbing his elbow into the helmet. It reeled, and he stepped forward, his arms a blur as he stabbed rose after rose into the knight's midsection. He spun and released three into the air behind him, effectively impaling the last white Bianco as it charged him. Dante spun again and booted the Alto away, then posed in a grand finish as both knights blew up.

_Okay, focus Dante! I'm having way to much fun with this thing! C'mon, you're a man with a mission._

He grinned to himself, then began his trek deeper into the city. Progress was slow from constant demon slaying, but he had an endless supply of weapons, thanks to his Devil Arms. So far, the Savior had moved away from the city, no doubt to flaunt it's power over the rest of the island. But as soon as Dante had Yamato, he was confident that it would make a b-line back to the city, straight to him.

Another thought occurred to him as he plunged two roses into the leathery gut of a blade: how was Trish doing? He'd seen the bodies, but of course there would be casualties in the initial attack. They were littered all throughout the residential district. Trish could move pretty fast when she wanted to, so Dante was sure she had gotten there to save at least some of the populace. It wasn't like he was worried about her; she was a deadly shot, and had those sweet lightening powers.

One of those cloaked demons with the funky hats tried to stab him with it's claws. He returned the favor with a single rose, thrown like a dart into its white skull. Dante doubted he even needed to detonate the spike to kill it, but did it anyway; it was more fun.

He pushed through to the main street business district. It was a proverbial demon orgy. The whole street was occupied by various scarecrows, blades, and those black hounds that he saw back at the castle. They all stopped fighting each other and turned towards him.

"Hmm..." he thought as the first began to advance.

Dante called out Pandora, then slammed it onto the ground, dropping his foot on it. The latches released, and the front of the case opened, revealing the Omen form. Brilliant light sprayed the street almost blindingly.

The demons shrieked in pain, then began to burn away as the light washed over them. Like a wave, it spread frying anything that moved, save for Dante, who was standing behind the source of it. Within seconds, the street was clear, smoking, but clear. The devil hunter pushed down on the case, closing it, then kicked it up to his hand.

"Adios, amigos," he chuckled to himself.

If he had to guess, Yamato was somewhere in the cathedral. He'd done a thorough recon of the city before hand; it was the only building close enough to the Hell Gate that seemed likely. Based on what he'd seen, the Order of the Sword preferred to be dramatic about things. They wouldn't build a shack around the power source.

Speaking of the gate, it still spewed demons at regular intervals. Every so often, he would catch a glimpse of a shadow dart across the ground. He would deal with it soon enough; currently, none of the weapons he had would scratch it. Only the key to the door could also destroy it.

Soon, the cathedral was in sight. Dante moved through the torn up plaza, passed the once extravagant fountain that now lay in ruins, pooling water onto the ground. Once at the door, he folded Lucifer tight to his back, then drew back and kicked the door open.

* * *

A single, brilliant spot light illuminated a solitary figure, seated on the steps of the stage.

"It was my...assumption," said the Angelo as he rose from the steps, "that those demons would prove...far inferior...in the face of your tactics."

The light snapped off, then on again onto a new figure: the crimson devil. He stood, one leg poised on a chair.

"You summon and kill!" the devil said, then kicked the chair away. "Summon and kill...I fail to see the logic here!" he said, addressing the silent audience. "Is...sanity...the price to pay..." he clenched his fist. "_...for power!?_"

A tiny tremble ran across the sky; a bolt of lightening...a prelude to the storm at the end of their futile argument. The broken god appeared briefly in its wake, silently watching the two without a face. The lightening flickered again and again, casting a sinister appearance over the one who supposedly worked for God.

"_Humans_..." the Angelo sneered, picking up a stray skull from the previous slaughter. "They are but stubborn, and foolish." He peered deep into its hollow sockets. "It takes a journey to hell for them to accept and praise their God," he mused softly to himself. "...a fact that _tickles_ irony's judgment..."

Upon the word 'tickes' he smashed the dried skull in his hand, then blew the dust into the still air.

"Ha!" replied the devil, clearing the fog with his hand. "and your judgments interest me not!" He scrabbled to his feet, for he had been lying lazily on the stage, cheek in hand. Now, he seemed invigorated, and informed the audience of his plan. "For I am here...to reclaim...what is rightfully mine."

The Angelo leaped into the spot light, spreading his wings and raising his sword for battle.

"**Yamato!**" he shouted, then waved his sword in contest. "**That is what you seek...and _that_, is why I wait in your path!**"

The devil slid back into the spot light, careening madly on a pew as confetti burst into the air. "Hahahahahaha! You will fumble in your opposition of my quest!"

As if to add an exclamation to his statement, he pulled one of his own weapons out, then fired it once into the air. The theater fell silent, save for the sound of a stray bounce of metal off stone. The devil had vanished.

"Though I encourage!" he said, reappearing on the head of his father. "For an opportunity to battle a being of such _grand _delusion _as you_...is a sweet fortune."

* * *

Dante jumped down from the statue, the armature on his back unfolding like wings. Agnus was quite curious to see how the device function, as he never saw the true form of the Devil Arm. He was far more concerned with converting it into a viable source of power for the created Hell Gates.

"**You dare oppose me?**" Agnus gloated as he conjured his portals behind him. "**Blasphemer!**"

A flurry of demonic gladii burst from the portals, taking aim at his opponent and spiraling forward. He didn't expect the attack to hit, especially Dante himself; he was just analyzing him, to see how he would react. Dante didn't disappoint, as he put on a display of speed and weaved in between the living swords. The blades took flight and hovered in the air above them, waiting for another chance to strike.

Agnus pulled his own gladius from non-existence and buzzed forward on his wings, striking downwards, confident that he could match his speed. But in a blur, Dante evaded the blade, and Agnus felt a sharp pain in his wrist. The half-demon had pulled a glowing red spike from the armature and stabbed it into a crease in his armor.

He wrapped his thin fingers around it and yanked it out, but regretted it immediately. Though the spike looked smooth, it may as well have been barbed. It hurt more going out than in.

Agnus grunted the pain away, then attacked again, swing his gladius. He was able to keep Dante on the defensive, dodging and spinning, until he built up enough energy to summon another bout of demons.

"**Behold, the power of evil!**" he cried, opening the portals. A duo of basilisks jumped out. Agnus was quite proud how they turned out. They didn't hold the splendor of the knights, but were easy to make, and were very quick and lethal.

The basilisks fired their skulls as they emerged, the air turning acrid with the scent of sulfur. One of the skulls came close to hitting, but judging by the look on Dante's face, he intended it to.

Above, the gladii came down for another dive. Some mis-judged the distance and pierced the floor. As they wriggled free, Agnus and Dante traded blows again. The scientist had the upper hand in both weight and power, but once again, underestimated Dante's quickness. He spun behind him, and Agnus felt two painful stabs in in his midsection. Two spikes were stuck in his gut.

_A minor wound. It will take more than that to damage this form!_

Agnus surged forward, sweeping his gladius in a low arc. Dante leaped back, perfectly in range. He began to focus energy in the palm of his hand, forming a vacuum; no doubt Dante's power would taste interesting.

"**Your strength will be mine!**" he shouted, then lunged, his hand outstretched.

He closed his hands around his throat, but then found himself grasping air. Dante had ducked low and to the side. Agnus sailed past, smashing into the wall.

"**You threw off my calculations!**" he screeched, outraged.

He turned, but suddenly found himself in a world of hurt. Dante had positioned himself right behind him, and began to ram spike after spike into his carapace. The device on his back never seemed to run dry. Soon, he had a glowing crown of red, mingling with his own red blood.

Panicked at the assault, he gibbered for the demon slayer to stop, to halt his assault, but he gave no heed. Mercifully he stopped, then drew his boot back and kicked him. In the blinding pain, Agnus seemed to have forgotten to beat his wings. He tumbled off the stage, falling to the ground in a heap.

"**This can't be happening!**" he said, more to himself than anything. He had to be the superior one! All of those years researching demonic power...his form was almost perfect!

Agnus buzzed his wings, taking to the air again in a cloud of dust. A crown of red spikes adorned his lower body. It was painful even to move. He summoned once more. This time, two cutlass demons into each hand.

"**I will crush you until you die!**"

Before Agnus could even think to start his wind up to pitch the bladed fish, Dante released another volley of spikes. They shot through the air, as fast as bullets and stung him like wasps. The barrage piled on top of the others, as well as in new chinks in his armor.

Then Dante clapped his hands.

* * *

The flash of red was almost blinding. The two dozen or so spikes inside the scientist's body exploded. He screamed in agony as he was forced out of the air and onto a pew. The insect body began to disappear, turning back into his short, stubby form.

"How!" he cried out in disbelief, "...can there be such a difference b-b-b-between us?"

Dante shrugged. "You surrendered your humanity. It's that simple."

"But you are not human!" he protested, confused. "So why am _I_ inferior?"

"You assume humans are weak," lectured Dante as he paced the length of the shattered stage. Agnus frantically searched his pockets, until he procured a small notebook and pen, which he began to furiously write in. "Ok, yeah, their bodies lack the physical ability of a demon...but human's possess something that demons don't."

Agnus's eyes lit up in curiosity. "What? What is it that the demons l-lack? Please, for the sake of my research. Please! Tell me!"

Without even looking, Dante fired a single shot from Ivory, piercing the notebook. Agnus let out a small shriek as pages flew up into the air to slowly flutter down like snow.

"No! No! Nono!" he gasped, running to and fro trying to gather them. "Oh, no! No, nonononono..."

"If you're going to continue your research in the next world..."

Agnus finally caught a page, then peered through the bullet hole in it, seeing Ivory's cold barrel pointing at him.

"...do your homework first."

Dante fired, putting a bullet in his head. Agnus flew back onto the pew, then slumped back against it. One single page fluttering down and covering his face.

Dante spread his arms and addressed the 'audience'. "And the rest is silence."

He bowed gracefully, then raised his gun again and fired once into the air, ending the play once and for all.

* * *

**Author's Note: Wow, I did this chapter in a single night! I really want to get this finished. I don't write Shakespeare, so forgive me if the drama scene is a little weird. I thought it was weird anyways. I think my chapter count was off before. There are 4 more chapters to go. I plan to do the epilogue as a separate one. Once again, usual stuff, poll, blah blah blah. Still looking for constructive criticism!**


	19. The Destroyer

**Chapter 18: The Destroyer**

The ancient elevator rumbled to a halt. It was hidden in the very stage of the cathedral. Dante had even been standing on it when he first arrived. He stepped off the platform and walked down the long, narrow path that led to the source of the gate. The large, empty hall was void of color, save for brown rock and earth, lit only by the light of torches. Beneath the path lay a massive complex of what looked like circuits, feeding raw energy to the gate on the surface.

In the center of the plinth at the end of the path stood Yamato, plugged into a gem like a power cord. The entire sword glowed an evil red, flowing down the blade and into the rock, which fed the circuits below.

Dante thought for a minute, unsure of how to proceed exactly. He didn't have an exact idea what would happen if he simply pulled the plug. The gate could shut off, or explode. Yamato could shatter, or implode and create a small black hole. Hell, it could rip the whole space time thing.

_Eh, whatever. I've had a good run._

Dante took firm hold of Yamato's handle, then with a grunt, tugged it free. The universe didn't explode, but the red, pulsing circuits flashed white, then began to collapse to the column supporting the plinth, then disappeared. It was quiet again.

In the dull light of the torches, Yamato gleamed almost sexily.

_I can see why you liked her, bro. She's one hell of a blade._

Above him, the ground trembled, sending bits of dirt and rock into the abyss with a crackle. It sounded like daddy was coming.

With a swish of his coat, Dante turned on his heel, heading back to the elevator. On his way back, he spied a long, dark object set against the wall. It was a sheath. Apparently, the Order went so far as to make one for Yamato. It wasn't anything fancy, just made of some polished, black material. Dante picked it up and slid Yamato into it.

Once outside, he strolled down the cathedral steps. The gate stood silent, save for the ugly black splotches on it from the black torrent that had spilled forth.

"I know this thing's a major cultural artifact," he said, shifting Yamato to his left hand, "but it's bad for the community."

With that, he dropped the katana to his hip, then drew it in a blinding flash. An arc of blue light leaped from the tip, soaring through the air, then pierced the gate across the middle at an angle. There was a faint sound of sliding metal across the distance. Date whiled the blade around, the spotless metal flashing off of the low sun, then spun, twirling it in his hand, feeding the metal back into the sheath. Yamato made a sultry purr as it slid in, then clicked as the tang locked.

The sound resonated through the air. The true Hell Gate toppled over, sliced cleanly in half.

Dante turned and looked at the settling dust. The Savior was just visible in the empty spot where the gate stood. It was coming.

The sound of heels on sidewalk marched over the rumble of stone. It was Trish, Luce and Ombra in hand.

"You get it back?" she asked. Dante held up the sword triumphantly.

"That's one sword..."

"...and one to go," she finished.

Both of them stood, looking at the approaching Savior. Trish seemed to sense something was off. She grinned slyly and posed, Luce casually on her shoulder.

"Need some company?"

Dante glanced over. He really wanted to say yes. She was damn hot in that outfit. Those low slung black leather pants hugged her sweet hips perfectly. And how many girls wore nothing but a bustier? Still...

_Resist temptation._

"Aaaahh..." he winced, then sighed. "I think you better help the others." He slung Yamato across his shoulders like a brace and stretched. "Try and get them as far away from here as possible."

Trish shrugged. "Got it," she said, then was gone.

Dante coiled his legs, squatting low to the ground, then jumped high into the sky, landing atop the spire of the cathedral. He rested Yamato lightly on his shoulder. He had willed away the form of Lucifer; Rebellion once again hung across his back.

"_You destroyed the Hell Gates!_" came the voice of the old leader.

Dante turned on the tiny platform he was on. The Savior was already upon him, towering into the sky. The hairs of his neck stood on end; the effects of the repulsion field that was keeping the behemoth floating. It was also carrying stray bits of debris from the chamber where it was stored. All around the body of it hovered stones slabs, some still bearing signs of the Greek architecture that it mimicked.

Like tiny comets, white Bianco knights soared around the Savior, leaving blue streaks of exhaust. In the middle of the cloud of them hovered a gold Alto, but this one this one seemed different. It appeared that this was the shell of the old man.

"Yeah," Dante called to this one. "Kinda...tainted the view." He paused. "Soooo...You ready to fight now, or what?"

"_You traveled this far to fight me?_" the wack priest asked incredulously. "_You could never touch the power of the Savior!_"

"Sounds like you're overcompensating," said Dante. "Besides, I wouldn't want you to get a creak in your neck from lookin' down at me."

"_Silence!_" he barked at the slayers cockiness, then paused. "_What would it take to alter your position?_"

_So he wants to bargain now?_

"Oh, I don't know," said Dante with a chuckle, "How about death?"

The old man gestured with his sword, and a flurry of knights rushed at him. Dante jumped into the air, kicking one away with little effort, then batted two more to the side with a sweep of Yamato's sheath. He somersaulted and cracked another, then kicked off a fifth, pitching the katana towards the gold knight.

Though several Biancos crossed paths with the sword, each of them were overcome by the speed and force of the spinning weapon, and so fell away. The gold knight lifted and spread its legs comically, letting Yamato fly past.

Meanwhile, Dante pushed forward, sailing through the air from knight to knight, then hopping on some of the floating debris, then the knights, then debris. Eventually, he spread his arms and soared like a bird in between the stabs of the knights. He caught up to Yamato, snatched it out of the air, then turned and chucked Rebellion like a spear. It stuck into the stone thigh of the Savior, which he then landed on like a strut.

"So...you ready to eat your words?" Dante asked, then rapped his fist against the living rock.

The gold knight paused. "_Do as you wish, your attempts are futile._"

It turned away from him. Dante saw it coming a mile away. Sure enough, it faked retreat, then lunged for him, but he was already gone. He landed behind it on a piece of debris. Without a seconds hesitation, he fired a round from Ivory straight into the old man's forehead. The body went limp, but the armor fell away in a shell, empty.

"Hmmm...the true form must be inside," Dante said to himself, then looked up at towering statue. "Looks like it's up to me to take care of ugly here!"

After quickly looking over the colossus, he came up with a game plan. The large gems set on its body just weren't for show. He guessed they was some kind of power source that moved the Savior's limbs. There were two on each arm and one on each leg, as well as one on the forehead and chest. Those were his targets.

Dante leaped off of the platform he was on to another, working his way closer to the main body. The Savior was already moving to attack, bringing its arm up. Half a dozen spheres formed, not unlike the charges that the knights sent out. The giant released them, and they flew like missiles towards him. Nimbly, Dante jumped straight at them, passing them before they could converge. When they did, they exploded, turning the floating rocks behind him into shrapnel.

He landed on the next platform, sprinting for the next jump. A pair of knights locked on to him, then landed to meet him. With two swipes from Yamato's sheath, he batted through the first one, then drew the blade in a blinding flash. The demonic blade cut through the armor as if it were butter. He spun and swung upward, then down, cleaving the second knight in half lengthwise.

The Savior kicked, one train sized leg aiming straight for him. It obliterated the platform he was standing on, sending him spinning away. In mid-air, he twisted around, kicking off a stone onto a more stable one, then pulled on Yamato's grip, drawing the sword just enough to reveal a slice of blade. Blue streaks of energy flew out, gathering at the gem set in the Savior's shin, then joined, ripping through stone, space, and gem. The blue jewel shattered, and the colossus reeled, clutching the wounded area.

Dante leaped along the breaking stone to a larger platform. This one had what looked like a fallen column along the length of it. More knights attacked, but quickly fell to Yamato's fang. The Savior recovered, reacquiring him. That's all it was; a big tank being run by a single individual, though it seemed to have some sort of sense, as it was reacting to his attacks. It raised its hands; lightening began to arc between its fingers as it gathered energy, turning a dark shade of piss yellow. Dante skidded to a halt on the broken stone and took up a stance.

The Savior let fly a massive ball of energy. Dante raised his hands and blocked it. It felt like a 747 crashing into him. Nevertheless, the devil hunter had more than enough strength to redirect the energy through and around him. The Savior fired again, and again, and again. Each time, Dante blocked it, shrugging away the extra force.

"Hey, c'mon!" he called, clapping his hands, then beckoning. The Savior's stoic face didn't change; Dante didn't expect it to. It hovered closer, then brought its fist down hard on top of him. He vanished a nanosecond before he was crushed like a bug. The platform buckled, but held. The Savior struck with the other hand, palm coming down hard next to its fist.

In the blink of an eye, Dante scaled the stone fingers, then darted along the wrist, Yamato already unsheathed. As he passed the gem on the wrist, he slashed, cutting into it without breaking stride. He sheathed the katana in the flurry of blue glass, continuing up the one near the shoulder. By the time he reached the crook of the elbow, the Savior reacted to the broken gem, gripping its arm for its harasser. He hopped the fingers, then released the dimensional cut from Yamato; the gem fell in shards.

This time, the Savior dropped its arm, sending Dante into a free fall. He landed, feet first, onto a platform near the thighs. As soon as he did, he got moving again. He soared between the legs, cracking the gem on the other leg with a strike from Yamato as he passed. Higher up on the living statue, there was a gem he missed at the small of its back.

The Savior launched volley after volley of destructive energy. The air was full of electricity, crackling between broken bits of metal and rock. Dante worked his way up, jumping from platform to platform, hacking through knights. In a massive jump, he launched himself at the Savior. He wished he could take the jewel out on the forehead, but he'd have to wait for another chance. He was going for the one on its back.

The energy from the incomplete halo that grew from its back sent a wave of heat over his body as he came close. He flipped, then twisted in the air, releasing the dimensional slash deep into gem.

He was able to repeat the same trick with the Savior's other arm. It struck, and he raced up, taking both gems out with a single attack. All that was left was the one on the forehead. He was debating his strategy when the Savior dropped its arms and leaned forward. The amount of energy that was building up between the halo was enormous.

_That...can't be good._

Dante immediately changed directions, moving from attack to evasion. He hopped the debris in a circle around the Savior just as it unleashed its attack. A massive beam of energy shot from the halo, vaporizing everything in its path. It turned, following Dante like the deadly hand of a clock as it rotated.

_Great, it has a laser._

Eventually, the halo spent the energy it had stored, and Dante halted his wild dash. Not wanting to be outdone, he called Pandora out into existence.

_PF398: Revenge._

The case that was the weapon's standby form began to unfold. Mass folded, density thinned, parts locked into place as the weapon grew in the blink of an eye, turning into a large cannon-like device. A grip and trigger snaked into his hands, the latter which Dante quickly depressed.

Hot exhaust shot from ventilation ports along Pandora's new form as a thick laser shot from the cannon. He nailed the Savior on the cheek, scorching the stone black. The blast stunned the behemoth, allowing Dante to refine his aim with the huge gun and fire again. This time, his aim was true, and the gem on its forehead fell victim to the laser. The broken fragments melted in the heat.

Now that its power was mangled beyond repair, the Savior reeled, almost drunkenly. Dante fired Pandora again, zapping it on the chest, near the last remaining gem. The Savior toppled over onto the city, crushing buildings as its massive weight fell to the ground.

Dante saw his chance and took it. He jumped off of the platform, which was beginning to collapse anyway from the lack of the Savior's repulsion field, aiming himself like a missile at the last gem with Yamato drawn.

As soon as he neared it, he thrust the sword forward; the point went in cleanly. He shoved with all of his might, pushing the blade deeper and deeper. Despite Yamato never having a problem with cutting anything, it began to slow. Dante threw all of his weight down on it, but then the blade halted entirely.

"_Even Yamato is powerless in opposition to the Savior!_" cried the old man, from wherever the hell he was. The Savior began to get back up, reaching for him, looking to crush him beneath its hand. Dante jumped away, leaving Yamato still half plunged into the gem's core.

"If the exterior's solid..." he muttered to himself as he drew Ebony & Ivory. As he fell away, he fired a rapid volley. A dozen bullets, guided by his keen eye, struck the serpent engraving on Yamato's hilt one after the other. Like many hammers, the rounds tapped against the sword until it broke through, disappearing into the jewel.

Dante flipped and landed on the cathedral spire. "...then you gotta take it out from the inside!"

He spun his guns, then slid them into their holsters as he watched the Savior fall forward. If the statue could indeed feel pain, it probably had to have the _worst_ case of heartburn.

"_No...what have you done?!_" screeched Sanctus.

Dante ignored him, instead, shouted at the Savior itself.

"Time to wake up, kid! You're missing out on all the fun!"

He didn't hear anything back. Nor did he feel anything. Dante shook his head.

"_NERO!_"

* * *

A great ventricle throbbed. Yamato glowed from where it pierced the valve. Something inside thrashed. The fascia protecting the muscle broke, and Devil Bringer ripped through, groping the air until it found the handle of Yamato. It gripped the sword, pulling it deeper, then cut through the sphincter holding the valve shut.

Nero fell forward, down a short drop, then hit the rocky floor face first, covered in a thin layer of slime. He groaned in pain, a sound overcome by falling metal when Red Queen landed behind him. Finally, he was free of the fleshy coffin. But...

_How?_

He looked himself over. He didn't feel dead...and if it was, the afterlife was a dump. It looked like he was in some kind of rocky cave. Then-

"_It's up to you from here, kid!_"

The faint voice that called from beyond the rock was both familiar and irritating. It was Dante. It all came back in a flash. He was stuck in that statue, the Order's excuse for god.

"_An opportunity to save the world doesn't happen every day, you know! Savor it!_"

Nero couldn't help but force a grin as he used Yamato to help him to his feet. "This I will savor..." He looked at the gorgeous sword in his right claw, completely unstained from its messy journey. He had Yamato back; his power.

"Let's clean up this mess!"

* * *

**Author's note: It's that damn mission 19 up next. I'll tell you right now that it's probably going to be a short one. Almost done! Nothing else to say. Let me know what you think!**


	20. The Successor

**Chapter 19: The Successor**

"Do what you gotta do, kid," Dante called into the Savior. "Cause I'm about to send this guy on a one way trip to hell!"

The Savior reached up to snatch him off the steeple. Dante leaped over the hand, hurling himself at the statue. He landed on the stone, burying Rebellion into it for support. The Savior reached down again, but he jumped the hand once again, scaling the arm. It then made the effort to rub him off, but Dante ducked back, skidding on his back along the stone. The hand passed within mere inches of his body. Somehow, he managed to stab his sword into it, going on a wild ride above the city as the Savior brought him around.

He dangled precariously from the palm of the behemoth. It smashed its hands together crushing him beneath its palms...only he was now standing casually on top of the fingers. The Savior flung him off, then tried to punch him out of the air with a wide fist. Dante kicked off of it, landing on the other wrist.

"Good luck...kid."

* * *

"Don't worry...I'm gonna get this done."

The air was rank and stale. It smelled like entrails, like blood, like a corpse. Nero tried to push those sensations out of his head. He had to keep moving. He had Yamato back, at least that was a start. Devil Bringer had gobbled it up, and already, he was feeling replenished. He let some of the energy radiate from his body, until it dried the muck he was covered in. His clothes were still damp with it, but at least his hair and skin were dry. That much he could stand.

Red Queen was still in okay condition. The blade was a bit greasy, but otherwise undamaged, aside from the nicks from the previous day of fighting.

_Or was that even longer now? Who knows..._

He gave her handle a tweak, and she responded with a low purr. The exceed system was still working, though it sounded weak. Either she was running low on fuel, or the moisture from the innards was screwing with the mechanism. He slung her back over his back, then wiped his hands on his coat.

The place was a cave, no two ways about it. The outside of the statue had been smooth, almost polished, but the inside looked like the face of cliff. He stood on uneven ground, stalagmites rose from the surface, stalactites hung from the ceiling. Odd bits of structure jutted out from the rock, as if the thing had been created from spare pieces cemented together.

From what Dante said, it sounded like he was fighting it head on. He felt the ground vibrate again and again, though he wasn't being thrown about.

_So does that mean I'm so far inside of it that I can't feel the motion of it...then that means..._

...he had to be close to the core. If he was going to stop this thing from the inside, then that's where he needed to be. The only problem was that Nero didn't have a clue to where it was. The path winded around a bit, but there weren't exactly signs pointing the way. And who knew if his initial guess was correct? For all he knew, he could be inside its ass.

_Standing around thinking won't solve anything._

Nero held true to his thoughts and moved on. Eventually, the narrow, rocky path widened out, stretching into a great cavern. He was amazed at what he saw. Paths and stairs rose all around him, leading further up into the Savior's innards.

He began to ascend the steps. They stopped at a wide round landing. He took another step forward-

-when five gates materialized out of the air, disgorging five knights onto the platform, four white and a gold leader. As soon as the portals vanished, they snapped to life, forming the defensive phalanx behind the gold. The leader raised its sword arm, and the knights launched forward on their wings and lances.

Nero hopped out of the path of the first one, cursing as he stumbled past the second. He felt a little lanky from not moving for so long. Nevertheless, he was able to stay alive as the knights finished their charge and took positions around him. He lashed out with Yamato, the serpentine blade extending out of his arm and cutting first through the weapon of one, then bringing the sleek sword around to cleave it in half.

He parried the thrust of another, catching the lance with Devil Bringer, then shoved it back into the gut of the owner, following up with a quick, clean horizontal slash that took the head off.

When Nero spun to attack again, the gold knight was barreling down on him, sword raised and flaming. He ducked beneath the swipe, then spun away from the follow up. He slashed with Yamato, but poorly. The two blades clashed, but the knight had the upper hand. It shoved him back into the waiting path of the two remaining white knights.

They launched from opposite ends with the intent to spear him from the front and back. Nero saved himself with a perfectly time twist, managing to blade himself in between the strikes. In the process, he reversed Yamato in his grip, swinging as he spun. The knight he caught burst in half at the waist.

The remaining white knight went down fast. The gold leader attacked, and once again they crossed swords. This time, Nero knocked the knight off balance, then hewed it's right arm off. The arm and sword spun into the air as he jumped forward, clasping his arms around the stunned knight, then heaved. He suplexed the knight up and over him, smashing it face first into the ground. Nero kicked up to his feet just as the knight rolled to its knees, its faceplate and armor mangled and dented. He jumped and dropkicked the knight in the chest, sending it flying over the edge of the platform.

He tucked his jacket behind him and continued on his way up. More and more of the internal structure began to reveal itself. What looked like blood literally fell in waterfalls, forming small reservoirs that no doubt fed to the rest of the chassis. In a matter of minutes, he reached the top.

Before him lay a great doorway. As he stepped through it, the ground began to shake violently. Nero stumbled, almost falling over as the tremor surprised him with its intensity.

"Talk about shaking things up in here!" he muttered.

To his surprise, he heard Dante's voice. "_Hey kid! You should see what I'm goin' through!_"

Nero grinned. It sounded like he was having quite a party outside. "Guess we're in the same boat then!"

He swung Yamato to keep himself balanced, then marched ahead. It was time to finish this.

* * *

**Author's note: To quote Phantom, "Bah, another small one!" I was not going to reintroduce all of the bosses only to kill them off again. Plus, having them reappear when they are dead is kinda stupid. The only logical fight scene in this chapter is the fight against the phalanx of knights, which in my opinion should have been against Credo in the game. But the stage is set for the big showdown!**


	21. La Vita Nuova

**Chapter 20: La Vita Nuova**

Nero slowly halted his footsteps. He found himself in the middle of yet another cavern, although this one wasn't nearly as large as the other. On the far end of it, he saw what he guessed had to be the core, or the heart, or whatever the hell was powering the Savior.

It was a giant hunk of rock, pockmarked with holes that glowed with the deep red light of the power source inside. In one of the larger holes, he saw a figure, then instantly recognized it.

It was Kyrie. She was suspended just behind the membrane covering the hole. She still looked unharmed, though her hair was now loose, floating once again as if submerged by water. Her doe-like eyes flitted open as he drew closer, perhaps acknowledging him, but they were too hazy to tell.

"We had originally intended Dante to form the Savior's core..."

Sanctus had suddenly appeared out of thin air in front of him. Nero hardly recognized his former leader. He still wore the same robes, but no longer donned the episcopal mitre. Now, his white hair was wild, flying in every direction. From his back grew two great horns, the base of them drenched in wet blood. A half halo protruded from his skull, much like the Savior's, and a blue gem was set into his forehead.

He wielded the largest sword that Nero had ever seen. It dwarfed Red Queen, even the gladius that Agnus used. It was a single edged blade that seemed to be made of both flesh and steel. It burned with a bright red light, the same color of the energy that arced around Sanctus.

"...perhaps it would have been wise to adhere to that choice!" he finished with a red pulse from his eyes.

"Too late for regrets." Nero hissed back. Devil Bringer's grip tightened around Yamato. "Now release Kyrie!"

Sanctus sighed tiredly. "Why oppose the Order? I knew your faith was weak, but I always thought you served our wishes." He raised the massive sword and held the tip of it to the girl's throat.

Nero kept himself from simply attacking in rage. Sanctus was too close to Kyrie. He might not be fast enough to stop him from hurting her, or worse. He might hurt her himself. At this point, he had to just keep talking.

"Bad enough you lying about all this and tried to kill me...but what really pissed me off was using Kyrie!"

When he spoke the words, Kyrie's features seemed to respond. She looked pleadingly at him.

"What is that?" Sanctus asked in disgust. "Love?"

Kyrie fell back into the light, seemingly disintegrating amidst it.

Nero felt a charge flow from Devil Bringer into Yamato. "Look it up!" he spat, then drew back the blade and swung, letting a fly an arc of blue light.

Sanctus held up a hand, caught the blow in his own energy, then sent it back at him. Nero barely managed to raise Yamato and deflect the blow into the cavern wall. When he looked back up, Sanctus had vanished. He looked back and forth, but there was no sign of the old man.

"_C'mon kid_," came Dante's voice. "_It's time to finish this!_"

"Wrapping things up on my end." Nero muttered to himself.

"Don't be too sure, boy!"

Behind him! Nero spun and slashed. Sanctus melted into the floor with a pool of light. The beam from Yamato missed, gouging out a section of rock.

"Although flawed, the power of the Savior is beyond that which you can defeat!" The old man's voice was all around him. Nero scanned the area, anticipating a strike. He whirled around just in time as Sanctus emerged from the floor again, releasing a ball of fire from his sword. Nero fired his own charge, blasting it out of the air. The resulting shockwave was fierce, but Nero kept his ground.

Sanctus took to the air, the air around him shimmering as his shield took form around him. Nero repeated the same strategy as last time; he jumped up to meet him and began hacking away with Yamato. The shield felt even stronger this time; even the dark katana couldn't pierce it.

Sanctus flitted back, away from the range of Nero's blade and began to cast out fire from his hands. The blasts singed the hem of the knight's coat as he dodged back and forth between them. Sanctus cast a bolt of lightening into the floor, frying Nero's nerve endings. He collapsed, but was promptly blasted by a ball of fire, propelling him back onto the ground.

He rolled, extinguishing the flames and drawing Yamato's soothing power to heal the burns. He shut the laughter of the crazed older man; he couldn't screw this up, not this late in the game. He had to save Kyrie.

Nero got back to his feet and charged, resuming his assault on the shield. It still didn't feel any weaker. Sanctus countered again and again with fire and lightening, blasting him to the ground again and again. Each time it happened, he got back up. He could not fail.

He delivered one powerful blow to the shield, and Sanctus vanished. Nero landed, then felt his presence behind him. He tucked his body and rolled forward just as that massive demonic blade singed overhead. The heat that radiated from it was like nothing he'd ever felt.

Nero roared in fury as the knight familiar rose out of him. His eyes burned just as red as his former leader's. He lunged forward, bringing Yamato around in a wide arc. When Sanctus raised the sword to block, it felt like he'd hit a brick wall. Yamato resonated in his grip, sending a rattle through his body that made his teeth shiver.

Sanctus lashed out with the sword again, the blade spinning out of his hands and at Nero, who quickly dodged the lethal blow. The sword returned like a boomerang.

They crossed swords again and again. No matter what he did, Nero couldn't break the shield or even match the strength of the gruesome sword. He hammered away again and again, but the shield stayed as strong as ever.

Suddenly, with one final blow and a stroke of luck, the shield began to collapse. Sanctus swiped once, putting Nero at bay as he disappeared, but not before hitting him in the chest with a fireball. The last blast sent him to his knees. Nero collapsed forward, leaning on Yamato, breathing hard in both pain and fatigue. The blue fire that burned from his body flickered, beginning to die.

Sanctus popped out of the ground in front of him at the other side of the cavern. He became enveloped by the red fire of the sword, then trained it's point on him. Nero saw what he was going to do, and realized he had one last chance.

_So this is it...After all this time, it comes down to one last crap shoot. 50-50, maybe? Ha, I shouldn't kid myself..._

Sanctus lunged forward with the intent to run him through. Nero yelled and lunged right back at him, raking Devil Bringer straight up. It connected dead on with the flat side of the blade, knocking it up and away...and setting Sanctus off balance.

With a roar of effort, Nero drew back Devil Bringer, the knight familiar following suite. He thrust his fist forward, and a massive projection shot out, the biggest yet. A fist and arm the size of a locomotive rammed the old man up into the ceiling of the cavern with a thunderous blow.

"_**JACKPOT!**_"

Sanctus fell to the ground in a hail of rubble, amazingly able to stay on his feet. Nero shot forward and slashed. He barely felt anything as Yamato sliced clean through him, skidding to a halt on his boots afterwards.

"The power of Sparda..." Sanctus gasped to the sword. "Why won't you give me strength?! _Am I not worthy?!_"

"Never could take those legends too literally," Nero said, then turned to face him. "But I do know that Sparda had a heart...a heart that could love another person...a human." He raised an accusing finger. "And that is what you lack!"

Sanctus gibbered and stumbled back, holding his blade up to the throat of Kyrie, who had rematerialized in the core. She let out the softest of whimpers through her lips as the blade hovered an inch from her neck.

"This time I will save you..." Nero whispered to her. "Just hold on..."

It was so simple. Yamato told him everything he had to do. All he had to do was do it. Then it would be all over. Nero casually marched forward, as if the threat against his love fell on deaf ears.

"Don't move, or I'll-"

Nero gently tossed Yamato forward. The bright flash from the polished blade distracted the priest just long enough. Nero struck with Devil Bringer again, smashing him into the core just above Kyrie. She had fainted from the intensity of the blow, but Nero hardly saw that, too busy focused on his task. He caught Yamato in a reversed grip, then spun and slashed the sword in the air. Tiny lines of energy flew out, gently cutting into the membrane around her like a scalpel.

Sanctus began to fall to the ground, but Nero was already waiting for him. He turned, Yamato still reversed in his hands. The blade crossed his field of vision; it was so beautiful as it glimmered in the light. With a great thrust, he stabbed it behind him, running Sanctus through.

The great demonic blade he held stuck in the ground. Kyrie fell. Nero ripped Yamato out and spun, catching her gently in his arms. Her body barely rocked from the fall. Beside him, Sanctus let out a scream as his body ripped itself apart and became nothing.

"Sorry I took so long..." he whispered to her. She didn't move. For an instant, Nero thought he lost her. "Kyrie...?"

Then, her eyes fluttered, and she let a weak gasp. Her deep brown eyes opened, and upon seeing Nero, began to brim with tears. He gently held her close as she huddled into him.

* * *

The Savior drew back for a mighty punch. Dante sighed. He was getting pretty damn sick of this. At this rate, he'd break the thing in a weak. What was taking the kid so long?

Dante raised Rebellion, meeting the punch head on. It drove him back on the ground, the cobblestone walk he was on breaking and shattering beneath him. Then, it simply stopped.

He paused for a minute, then exhaled a breath of relief. "Huh. It's over." With a casual push, he shoved the fist off and to the side. The Savior stood rigid, solid and stiff as the stone that made it. Dante made his way around the arm to get a better look it. The gem on the chest was mostly intact. If Nero was going to make his exit, it would be there.

He waited...and waited...

_C'mon, kid..._

Then, the blue glass shattered. Nero leaped out, holding the songstress Dante saw when he first arrived. He landed, and as he stood among the falling shards, Dante had to admit he looked pretty damn cool. With his father's sword slung across his back and a woman in his arms, he definitely looked the hero.

His choice of women wasn't too bad either. The girl was real cute. A little thin and flat, but she had a good face and eyes. She clung to him like he was the last man on earth.

Dante grinned and crossed his arms. "Heh, took your time."

"What," Nero snapped back as he bustled up with his girl. "You lookin' for an apology?"

"Well, how long am I gonna have to wait for one?"

Nero opened his mouth to reply, but a sudden tremor silenced them both. The Savior was moving again. The blank, emotionless face was shifting until it looked more human. Dante instantly recognized the face of the old priest.

"This guy just doesn't let it go," he sighed, then drew Ebony & Ivory. He was a bit surprised when Nero stepped up beside him, taking Sparda from his back and pressing it into the devil hunter's chest.

"This is where it started, and this is where it will end," he said. "By my hand."

Dante shrugged, then holstered his guns. "Alright then," he said as he took the sword. "Go finish it, kid."

He turned to his girl. "Wait for me..."

* * *

"You know God, I always hated that you made my arm like this..."

He flexed his right fist. _His_ right first. It glowed with a deep blue light.

"...now with it, I can destroy this thing..."

Ahead of him, the Savior moaned and rose to its knees. He grinned, then slapped his fist into his palm.

"Who would've thought?"

The Savior fell forward on its hands. Nero looked it straight in the eye. It was both unsettling and funny to see the old man's face on it. It opened its mouth and screamed in rage, powerful enough to whip his coat and hair back in a torrent of hot air.

Nero cupped a hand to his ear. "What'd ya say?" he mocked.

The beast moaned and swung a fist. Nero stepped to the side, then smacked it hard with his fist. The hand shattered and the Savior fell to one side, unable to support itself on that side. It raised the other fist and struck. Nero jumped up to meet it, breaking it into pieces in mid-air. With nothing else left to lean on, it fell forward. He socked it in the head, sending it reeling back.

"Now I know..."

Nero jumped high in the sky. The blue light crept over his body. He screamed and drew back his arm, then reached forward. The train sized hand appeared, followed by an even longer arm that grabbed onto the Savior's skull.

"This arm was made for sending guys like you back to hell!" He began to tighten his grip. "And now...you..._DIE!!_"

He wrenched his fist closed. The Savior's head exploded in a great cloud of dust. The statue went rigid, then slowly began to tip over, falling among the ruined city in an eruption of destruction. Nero landed back in the cathedral plaza. He looked first to the cloud of dust, then to his right arm, giving it a small pump of victory.

"Yeah."

"I guess I should thank you," Nero admitted as he approached Dante, Yamato resting on his shoulder. It was that time, and he really wasn't looking forward to it, but he had to do it all the same. He was really going to miss the blade.

"But that'd be out of character," Dante guessed. "Maybe you should just throw an insult my way instead."

"Yeah, that sounds better." Nero looked him in the eye, all trace of humor gone. "Still, I owe you."

Dante shrugged and sighed. "Ah, don't sweat it...I had my reasons for helping. Take care of yourself."

He brushed by Nero, clapping him on the shoulder as he passed. Nero stood, bewildered at his actions. "Hey!" he called after him, then lifted Yamato. "You forgot this."

Dante stopped, looked back, then turned to face the knight. "Keep it."

Nero's mouth almost dropped open. "What? I thought this meant a lot to you!"

"That's the only kind of gift worth giving. I want to entrust it to you, and so I am." He turned to start walking. "What you do from here is your call."

Nero paused for a moment, trying to make sense of what just happened. _Had_ it actually happened? He was still holding Yamato, but...

"Hey, Dante!" he called after him. "Will we meet again?"

The devil hunter didn't stop. He just lifted a hand in a brief wave. Nero gave a soft chuckle. He really didn't expect anything less. After barely knowing him, he thought he'd had him figured out. Guess he was wrong. He drank Yamato into his arm, the sword once again disappearing in a flash. His arm glowed with a sense of reassurance.

"So..." came Kyrie's soft voice from behind him. "Is this the end?"

"Maybe," he replied, then to himself, "Maybe..."

He knew what she was talking about. To be honest, he didn't know himself. It was just like Dante had said. What they did from here was his call.

"The city's a wreck," Kyrie murmured to herself as she stepped past him, surveying the damage.

"Yeah..."

_Damn it, why can I never talk normally with her? I sound like an idiot._

Kyrie turned, her eyes suddenly filled with nervousness. "I...I am still alive, right?"

"Yeah, we both are," Nero reassured her, then paused. Time to ask the question; he couldn't do anything until he knew for certain. He looked down at his right arm, cupping it with his left. "Kyrie...If I'm a demon, and not a human anymore...is this what you want?"

She cut him off by suddenly taking hold of his right arm. The blue palm glowed a bright gold where she touched it. Her hand was warm and gentle. It felt even better than Yamato.

"Nero, you're you. And it's you I want to be with. I don't know anyone who is as human as you are."

Her words touched him deeply. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace he'd given to her, then hung it at it's proper place from her neck. He gently placing his hands on her shoulders, admiring the golden leaves sparkle in the sun. It looked beautiful on her. For a while, neither of them moved. Then, she began to lean closer, her soft pink lips parting slightly. He leaned to meet her, then-

-Nero pulled Blue Rose in one quick movement, sinking a round into the head of the scarecrow that appeared beside them. Kyrie jumped from the harsh bang, letting out a small gasp.

A large pack of the demons had gathered around them, beginning to laugh wildly. Nero sighed in annoyance. "Looks like they're determined to interrupt us..." he said, then looked back apologetically. "Guess that kiss is gonna have to wait."

Kyrie blushed. "That's okay, I'll wait."

"Thanks," he said, then turned to face the mob, wiping his nose. "...now...let's rock!"

* * *

**Author's note: Finally, all done! This was one hell of a project, but I'm really glad I got it done. I hope you all enjoyed reading it! Thank you very much to every single one of you who reviewed this, especially you who I heard from the beginning to the end. You guys are great motivation. The poll in my profile is now closed. Lady wins, so Lady is what you get next. I've already got two chapters ready, and you can expect to see it in the near future. If you're going to leave a review, I'd like to know what you thought about the story overall. Especially tell me the things you didn't like. Maybe I'll tweak this in the future, fix some stuff up.**

**Other than that, enjoy the epilogue!**


	22. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

The last demon fell to his blade. Silence once again drifted over the ruined city. The two reunited, the woman surprising her man by intertwining her fingers in his hand. Once again, the gruesome blue flesh glowed a pleasant gold, a symbol of their union.

The view was truly beautiful. Already, the sun was halfway below the horizon, bathing everything in its golden light. From this point on, it would be only the two of them. No more living blindly under lies. Whatever the future held for them would be decided by their actions.

* * *

Lady killed the engine to her bike, then dismounted the warm seat, grabbing the case from the back. She wore a clean, freshly pressed blazer, the same white pinstriped one she wore the last time she visited. Somewhere in the distance, a siren wailed deeper in the bowels of the city. She had just got back from a job, and gotten word that Dante was back.

The bright red neon lights that advertised _Devil May Cry_ flickered dully. Lady pushed through the tall double doors, the small briefcase in her left hand, Kalina Ann across her back. The jukebox greeted her, this time with a slower tune that she found much more appealing.

She found Dante right where she expected him to be: slouched behind his desk. This time he was reading the latest issue of _Two Handgun_, one of those smutty magazines of chicks with guns. Dante claimed that he read it for the articles.

"You're a lifesaver," Lady admitted as she clumped over the wooden floor to his desk, then set the case in front of him. "Now I can finally do my job in peace."

Dante only grunted in response, too absorbed in what he was reading or looking at. Silently, Trish floated in from the back, then nimbly spun and sat on the edge of the desk, once again donning skimpy tight leather. She eyed the case expectantly, then gave Lady a wary look. She only grinned in return.

Trish's brow furrowed in annoyance when she opened the case. Lady could tell why. Inside, she'd packed a single roll of bills, probably a couple thousand at most. She really didn't count that carefully. But it was exactly what was fair for them. It was supposed to be an easy job, but look what happened.

Trish picked up the small roll of bills between her thumb and forefinger, as if it were fetid, her nose bunching in disgust. "If it was a lifesaver gig, then don't you think we deserve a little more?" She wagged the bills at Lady. "You call _this_ sincerity?"

Lady's eyes narrowed behind her sunglasses. Now Trish was just pissing her off. She leaned forward, no longer caring that if Dante looked, he'd probably get the full show. Her only concern was the blond bitch in front of her and her ungrateful ass.

"More?" she hissed. "Was it not _your _fault that things escalated to the level that they did? Bringing Sparda into the spotlight?"

Trish swelled in indignation, her own crystal blue eyes narrowing in return. Simultaneously, they both got it. Why were they bickering with each other when the real problem lay elsewhere? They both turned to look at Dante.

Oblivious, he looked up from his magazine, an innocent look on his face. When he saw the looks on both of their faces, he got it, then quickly looked back to the literature, raising it to hide his face. The pained look on his face showed he knew exactly what was coming. He was thwarted in his attempt when Trish snatched it out of his hands and tossed it to the desktop.

"Hey!" he protested, "I was just getting to the good part!"

"This is your case too, Dante," Trish informed him.

"Yeah well, we take what we can get right?" he said lazily, then picked up the magazine again. Trish sighed in exasperation.

"Well," Lady crowed, then straightened. "Then it's settled."

She gave a flick of a wave, then began to leave, hiking her rocket launcher further up on her shoulder and thoroughly enjoying the venomous look that Trish was shooting Dante. But before she could leave, the antique phone sitting on the desk began to ring. What made her stop, she'll never know.

Trish snatched the handset. "'_Devil May Cry',_" she answered in a sugary voice, then listened. She lowered it, pressing the mouthpiece to her bust, all trace of anger gone. "It's a customer with the password. They're nearby..." She grinned. "What should we do?"

Dante returned her grin, then slammed the magazine shut. "You need to ask?" In a flash, he was on his feet, tucking his coat behind him in a red wave. He grabbed his guns from his desk, then his sword, Rebellion, from the rack behind him, slinging it over his back. He twirled Ivory casually around a forefinger as he headed to the door.

"Can I come along?" Lady asked. The rest of her night was free, and she was bored as hell. Dante shrugged and brushed by her.

"Do what you like, but don't expect to get paid!"

Lady smirked. Fair enough. "There's something so exciting about all of this..." She looked over her shoulder to Trish. "You think so, right?"

The blond woman stopped beside her. "I won't lie..."

Dante stopped at the door, then looked to the two armed women. "Okay, are you ready?" Both of them nodded. With a whip of his coat, he thrust his leg forward, kicking the doors to his shop open. "Then come on, babes..."

"**_LET'S ROCK!_**"

**The End**


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